No Call, No Fight: De La Hoya Moves On From Ennis Talks

Oscar De La Hoya says the proposed fight between Vergil Ortiz Jr and Jaron Ennis is no longer happening, and he is placing the blame squarely on a call that never came.

Speaking Monday, De La Hoya said he set a clear deadline for Eddie Hearn to respond to a 60–40 purse split offer in Ortiz’s favor. When that deadline passed without direct contact, De La Hoya said Golden Boy moved on.

“Eddie did not call me, so I am moving on,” De La Hoya said in comments reported by BoxingScene.

Later the same day, De La Hoya doubled down in a separate video. He said there would be no extensions and no renewed talks. If the call did not come by the end of Monday, the offer was off the table and would not be revisited.

The proposal would have given Ortiz the larger share as interim WBC titleholder at junior middleweight, with five percent reserved for the winner. Ennis would have entered the fight unbeaten, coming off his full move to the 154 pound division after years campaigning at welterweight.

From Golden Boy’s perspective, the lack of response was the answer. Ortiz has stayed active since moving up in weight and holds a recognised belt. De La Hoya made it clear he is not interested in waiting while negotiations drift without resolution.

Attention is now shifting elsewhere. De La Hoya said he expects to explore talks involving Sebastian Fundora and has also mentioned Errol Spence Jr as a possible opponent down the line. Both represent clearer routes than continuing to wait on a response that did not arrive.

For Ennis, the situation closes off what would have been the most direct statement fight available at junior middleweight. He made his divisional debut earlier this year with a quick stoppage of Uisma Lima, a bout that introduced him to the weight without answering larger questions.

The rest of the division continues to move. Xander Zayas is scheduled to face Abass Baraou, while IBF titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev is set to defend against Josh Kelly.

If the call was going to come, it needed to come quickly. De La Hoya says it did not, and he is treating the fight as finished.