By Ricardo Lezama WBC interim junior middleweight champion, Vergil Ortiz Jr., from Grand Prairie, Texas, is set to fight Israil Madrimov, in a 154lb bout. If you remember Madrimov’s last fight, you’ll know that he was able to give Terence Crawford, an undefeated pound-for-pound fighter fits in his first challenge within the super welterweight division.
For his part, Ortiz Jr looks like he has an intense list of opponents collecting nicely in his record. In September, he faced Serhii Bohachuk, and this is now followed by a challenge against Israil Madrimov on February 22. The challenge is considerably greater than another anticipated fight—and one that has faced multiple hurdles—is the clash against Jaron “Boots” Ennis.
Controversy With Ennis
For years, Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs Jaron Ennis has been the fight to make for the welterweight division. Particularly, the rank of top contender would clarify their stance within the division of 147 and 154.
When Ortiz Jr. had a difficult performance prior to an informal Ennis announcement, the likelihood of the fight between them both had a high probability of happening. In my opinion, the familiarity that Bohachuk had with Ortiz Jr and the lack of pressure allowed him to challenge Ortiz Jr. with an awkward style that displayed good timing. Nevertheless, Ortiz Jr. pummeled Bohachuk for many rounds, but it seemed as if Bohachuk was just too well conditioned to be knocked down. Some considered the fight controversial, I thought that at best, Bohachuk could have deserve da draw in his bout with Ortiz Jr. Even so, the idea here is that the performance showed Ortiz Jr. was not superhuman and could entice other boxers weary of too great a challenge to fight him.
The challenge, then, seemed perfect for Ennis who also has had issues in the welterweight division when he defended his IBF title for a second time Karen Chukhadzhian. In this scenario, both of the prospect/contender fighters emerged from difficult fights with the best set of challenges behind them and in front of them. Alas, last minute demands from Boozie Ennis, the father of Jaron, made the fight next to impossible. Specifically, Ennis Sr. wanted Ortiz Jr. to drop to 147 despite the well documented difficulties for the fighter to make 147.
Ultimately, Ennis opted to stay in the welterweight and the possibility of unifying the welterweight division. Retired boxers, Paulie Malignnaggi and Cris Algieri, both commented that the choice to stay appeared to make sense and that it was likely the case that Ennis simply wants to unify the division in which he already competes. We think it’s a duck move, but the idea that Ennis simply wants to stay in his weight class makes sense too. It’s when you factor in Turki al Alalshikh’s comments that things get interesting.
Riyadh Season
The fight rumor stems from an apparent commitment from Turki al Alalshikh to host the showdown between the two fighters.
Turki Alalshikh Tells All About Jaron Ennis Ducking Vergil Ortiz‼️
— AccordingToBoxing (@AccordToBoxing) December 4, 2024
"First of all, [Ennis] gave us his word."
"And in the end, he changed his mind [about] what I can do for him.
I cannot force him."
"[Ennis is] not [communicating] with me directly, but suddenly he changed his… pic.twitter.com/Ged10p38fD
Publicly, Turki appears to be one of the major sources of information about how the Ortiz Jr. fight with Ennis did not materialize. As a result, he has basically coordinated a new fight and the Madrimov vs Ortiz Jr fight. Israil Madrimov’s next fight with Riyadh Season is ironically with Bohachuk, Ortiz Jr’s last opponent. Not only that, but there is a possibility (it’s boxing after all) that Bohachuk and Ortiz Jr. rematch, but Turki’s commitment may lie with Madrimov given his prior appearance on Riyadh Season cards (e.g. the Terence Crawford fight).
All of this is to say that there are multiple sources all substantiating at some level the potential accusation of a “duck” and none really have any incentive to lie about the fight, and to simply make it happen.