Eddie Hearn Says Jaron Ennis Deal With Vergil Ortiz Jr. Has Changed

The Matchroom chairman says Ennis’ unified title win over Xander Zayas requires fresh negotiations as Josh Kelly and Sebastian Fundora remain alternative opponents

Eddie Hearn says the financial framework for a fight between Jaron Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. no longer applies after Ennis unified the WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles. The Matchroom chairman says any new negotiations must reflect Ennis’ status as a unified champion.

Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs) unified the titles with a seventh-round stoppage of Zayas on June 27, significantly raising his profile in one of boxing’s deepest divisions. Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs), who holds the WBC interim title, had long been viewed as a natural opponent, and Hearn confirmed the sides had previously reached an agreement in principle before circumstances changed.

“We did a deal when we weren’t even champion, when we were half the fighter we were in terms of profile and star value,” Hearn told FightHype. “Now we’re unified world champion and you’re a voluntary defense. I’m not going to come out and say you should get 20% as a voluntary challenger. But do not think the deal is the same. We’ve got multiple options for Jaron. We’ve got Josh Kelly, we’ve got Sebastian Fundora. We love the Vergil Ortiz fight. It is one of the very best fights in the sport.”

Hearn stressed that Matchroom still wants to make the Ortiz fight, but believes Ennis’ leverage has increased substantially since the original discussions. Rather than revisiting the old agreement, he said Golden Boy Promotions should come back with a fresh offer that reflects Boots’ status as a unified champion.

“We’ll work with Golden Boy, co-promote, no problem,” Hearn said. “But respect what he’s done, respect the situation and respect that today’s price is not yesterday’s price.”

The comments also suggest Team Ennis is in no rush to lock in Ortiz as the next opponent. Hearn listed both Fundora and Josh Kelly as legitimate alternatives while negotiations continue, giving the newly crowned unified champion multiple paths forward if an agreement with Ortiz cannot be reached.

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