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Eddie Hearn says Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ first priority is to exhaust all efforts to do a unification fight next instead of facing Teofimo Lopez.
Matchroom promoter Hearn says that if he cannot negotiate a deal for Boots (33-0, 29 KOs) to face WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios or WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis, he will seek organize a fight with Teofimo. and Ennis. It would be a joint PPV match on DAZN and ESPN.
Teofimo waiting
Fans were looking forward to Boots facing Teófimo López next. They will be disappointed if Ennis decides to fight a unification against Barrios or Stanionis, as neither of those guys are popular and seen as mere belt holders.
Hearn says Ennis is focusing on unifying the 147-pound division because he is “not yet” a 154-pound fighter. That’s why he didn’t accept the offer to move up to junior middleweight to challenge Vergil Ortiz Jr. for his WBC interim title on His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s February 22 Riyadh season card.
Eddie notes that Conor Benn is interested in fighting Barrios for his WBC title next, and that fight could happen. WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman wants an upcoming tune-up, so he is not available for Ennis to fight. That leaves only WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis as the top choice for Ennis’ next contest.
“The decision was no (to advance to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr). I feel sorry for Jaron, but ultimately, he’s still not a 154-pound fighter. If I was, I’d be fighting Vergil Ortiz,” Eddie Hearn said on Fight Hub TV about why Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis didn’t accept the offer to challenge interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. on the 22nd. February.
“We are pursuing unification struggles. Teófimo López, you’ve already seen all that. We (Ennis) really love that fight, but he still wants to unify. So, if we can’t unify, he has the decision to fight Teófimo López.
“If I had gone to 154 and not fought Vergil Ortiz, I would understand the criticism. We will stay 100% at 147 for the next fight and maybe another one, but we have to achieve that unification,” Hearn said.
This won’t go well with fans if Boots decides to go in the direction of a unification against one of the 147-pound champions instead of facing Teofimo next. He already looks like a duck for choosing not to face Vergil Ortiz at 154 on the February 22 card in Riyadh.
If Ennis decides to skip a megafight against Lopez in favor of a lackluster welterweight unification bout against Stanionis or Barrios, people will settle for him lacking ambition and courage.
What’s next for boots?
“The offer is to do it in DAZN PPV and ESPN PPV,” Hearn said about the offer he received for a fight between Teofimo López and Boots Ennis. “He (Jaron) really needs a big fight and he wants that big fight to be a unification.
“If we can’t achieve unification, we have to look at other options (for Ennis). The other options could be Teófimo López or Vergil Ortiz. He just hasn’t hit 154 yet. I promise you. Next it will be a unification or a massive fight.”
Obviously, the fight with Vergil Jr. is not an option for Boots’ next fight because he already decided not to participate in that fight. Ortiz Jr. now has an opponent for the February 22 card, Israil Madrimov. So, it’s too late for Ennis to take that option after his refusal.
If Hearn can’t negotiate a unification fight for IBF welterweight champion Jaron against WBC champion Barrios or WBA belt holder Stanionis, Teofimo is the only option. Eddie and Boots will have to act quickly if they want to have the option of using Lopez as a third option because he is not going to wait forever.
“I love (Teófimo’s) fight, but for him (Boots) it’s not about the money. He wants to unify the division,” Hearn said. “That is the absolute goal. So when I talked to him about Teoifmo, ‘Oh, it’s a great fight, but you have to fight for the champions (at 147).’ I said, ‘I’ll do it, but this is also on the table.’
“The first priority is to exhaust all options on the champions, and if not, I think that’s (Teófimo) a great fight. We are negotiating with Stanionis. We are negotiating with Barrios. Brian Norman will not accept the fight. First he wants a warm-up fight and that’s it. It is quite transparent.
“We have to try to close down Stanionis or Barrios, or look at Teo, or if he (Boots) wants to move up, he has to go straight to that fight with Vergil Ortiz. We’re not going to get into any other fight because people like that fight, and it’s a fight that we really like too,” Hearn said.
