GLENDALE, Ariz. – Eddie Hearn is not quite ready to move on from the Vergil Ortiz-Jaron “Boots” Ennis ordeal.
However, Hearn, the head of Matchroom Boxing, admits that his side is quickly running out of time before it will be forced to make its next move.
Arguably the best possible fight to make in the sport today, Ortiz-Ennis remains at the mercy of an ongoing two-way lawsuit. Ortiz and Golden Boy Promotions are deadlocked in a legal battle that is threatening to head to arbitration, absent a ruling to block the move that would have to come this week.
“I think [this] week – the next few days are the last to make the Vergil Ortiz fight,” Hearn told BoxingScene and other reporters on the hot-button topic. “I’m still hopeful, simply because it’s the best fight in American boxing.
“But … we have a job to do for Jaron Ennis.”
Ennis, 35-0 (31 KOs), recently re-signed with Matchroom and currently holds the WBA interim 154lbs title. Ortiz, 24-0 (22 KOs), is the current WBC interim titleholder at the weight.
The two met face-to-face immediately after Ortiz’s second-round knockout victory over Erickson Lubin last November 9 in Fort Worth, Texas. The bout took place just outside of Ortiz’s Grand Prairie hometown, and Philadelphia’s Ennis was happy to make the trip to hostile territory, even overcoming travel issues to arrive in time for the memorable in-ring staredown.
How negotiations went would depend on who you ask. Golden Boy co-founder and chairman Oscar De La Hoya made the strange decision to negotiate through the media and constantly insist that Ortiz had other options if this dream fight fell through.
The nonsense was coupled with the expiration of Golden Boy’s deal with DAZN by the end of last year, though the two sides were previously in talks for a two-year renewal. However, Ortiz’s side exercised a clause in the promotional contract and insisted that the unbeaten boxer was now a free agent.
The matter is now for the US district courts to decide. Legal representatives for Golden Boy and Ortiz appeared before a Nevada judge on February 20 to determine whether to remove the temporary restraining order secured by Golden Boy or if Ortiz’s free agent status is valid.
The hearing was followed by Golden Boy’s filed motion to advance the case to arbitration, while Ortiz’s team filed a motion to dismiss outright.
A ruling was not yet made as this story goes to publication.
It unfairly leaves Ennis and Matchroom in a predicament, whether to wait out the legal drama well beyond their control or just move on to the next-best option.
Ennis’ secondary WBA title makes him the de facto mandatory for Xander Zayas, the unified WBA/WBO 154lbs titleholder. Zayas defeated Abass Baraou to win the WBA strap and defend his WBO belt in a January 31 split decision win in his birth town of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Earlier that day and on the other side of the Atlantic, England’s Josh Kelly pulled off a considerable upset. The 2016 Great Britain Olympian traded knockdowns with Russia’s Bakhram Murtazaliev en route to a majority decision win to claim the IBF 154lbs title in Newcastle, England.
Ennis and Kelly are both with Matchroom. Zayas is promoted by Top Rank, which Matchroom partnered with for Saturday’s Emanuel Navarrete-Eduardo “Sugar” Nunez two-belt 130lbs unification in Glendale, Arizona.
“If we can’t get Vergil Ortiz, then the target we want is Xander Zayas,” insisted Hearn. “And if we can’t get him, we have another Matchroom fighter – Josh Kelly, who just won the IBF title. That’s another opportunity as well.
“I’d like to do Boots versus Vergil Ortiz and Xander versus Josh Kelly. Then the winners fight each other.”
The originally targeted date for Ortiz-Ennis was April 18, which BoxingScene has learned is now less and less likely, even as a placeholder. A date in mid-May or June seems far more realistic, but that would still mean Ortiz settling with Golden Boy as early as possible.
“If we can get it done, it will reinvigorate the sport,” Hearn said. “So just give it a couple of more days. If we can’t get it done then, then you can get my comment [on what’s next for Ennis].”
