Vergil Ortiz is yet to fight in 2026, but the Texan is poised to end his inactivity soon. However, the undefeated knockout artist can now be ruled out of one highly anticipated mega-fight as his return date draws closer.
Ortiz was set to collide with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis earlier this year, until promoter Oscar De La Hoya intervened and blocked he and his manager, Rick Mirigan, from negotiating fights without Golden Boy Promotions.
As a result, Ennis moved on and successfully dethroned Xander Zayas to kickstart his charge towards the undisputed super-welterweight throne – which is expected to continue against IBF ruler, Josh Kelly, upon his next outing – whilst Ortiz has been left sidelined.
Speaking to Fight Hub TV, Ortiz’s trainer Robert Garcia explained why Ortiz will now permanently campaign as a middleweight, ruling out a long-awaited clash with Ennis, which could have been for the undisputed title, at least until ‘Boots’ also moves up to the 160lb scene.
“When we learned that Boots is unifying and then that [Sebastian] Fundora also has a date, I know for a fact that they are both going to want to go for undisputed.
“Knowing that they both have a fight coming up and that their next fight could then be against each other for undisputed – which would probably be towards the summer or end of next year – then that puts us [in a position where we must] wait for the winner, maybe for another year.
“Honestly, we just made the decision to just campaign at 160lbs. Waiting for that is too much for Vergil, he would have to work so hard to make 154lbs and then to have to wait for another year.”
“I think that 160 is the perfect weight for Vergil and I think that, eventually, both Fundora and Boots will move up to 160 anyways.”
Ortiz is expected to debut in the middleweight division against former unified welterweight world champion, Keith Thurman, with that bout anticipated to act as the co-main event on the mooted Benavidez-Cieslak card on Saturday, December 5, in Phoenix, Arizona.
