Ortiz Jr. Calls Out Boots’ Past Duck—But Fans Say He’s Avoiding Ennis Now

Vergil Ortiz Jr. reminded Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis today on social media of his choosing not to fight him in the past.

Boots Demands a Straight Answer

Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) showed he’s not interested in playing Vergil’s games and asked point-blank if they’re going to fight or not. He wasn’t going to let WBC interim junior middleweight champion Ortiz Jr. (24-0, 22 KOs) play around endlessly on social media.

I’m not about to keep going back and forth. Are we fighting next or not? @EddieHearn @OscarDeLaHoya,” said Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis on X, replying to Vergil Ortiz Jr’s post below.

“Alright, so either 1. You said no twice. Or 2. You let someone say no twice for you. Which one is it?” said Vergil Ortiz Jr. to Ennis on X.

Why Ortiz Jr. Keeps Looking Back

For Vergil Jr to be revisiting the past, it’s a signal that he’s not interested in fighting Ennis and is looking for an excuse not to fight him.

Fans Call Out Vergil’s Deflection

Fans saw Ortiz’s body language when Ennis challenged him after his recent fight against Erickson Lubin on November 8th, which showed that he doesn’t want to face him. If there was any doubt that Vergil Jr. wants nothing to do with fighting ‘Boot,’ his mention of Jermell Charlo and Errol Spence as possible next opponents made it immediately clear. He doesn’t want to fight Ennis.

Vergil Jr’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, was even more transparent in his disinterest in the Ennis fight. At the post-fight press conference after the Lubin bout, De La Hoya said this about a bout against Ennis:

“The one thing about the Boots Ennis fight, yeah, we’ll discuss it—absolutely. And I will get the best terms, as long as they’re favorable to us, because [Vergil Jr] is the man. They are chasing him. Vergil Ortiz is the champion… We obviously have the upper hand, because he [Ortiz Jr] is the better man.”

Does that sound like a promoter that wants to make Ortiz Jr. vs. Ennis fight? That’s brush-off language, letting ‘Boots’ and Matchroom know that he’s not interested.