FORT WORTH — Some Monday musings while wondering if boxing might finally be building some momentum headed into next year …
Vergil Ortiz dominates Erickson Lubin
Vergil Ortiz’s performance Saturday was electric. Ortiz mowed down former title challenger Erickson Lubin, stopping Lubin on his feet in the second round. Ortiz has been on a run at 154 pounds, collecting wins over Serhii Bohachuk, Israil Madrimov and now Lubin, who had won three straight since a loss to Sebastian Fundora in 2022.
Ortiz’s next fight should be obvious. Jaron “Boots” Ennis, fresh off a dominant, first-round knockout win over Uisma Lima last month, watched the fight from ringside and was invited into the ring for a spirited back-and-forth by Ortiz after the fight. Ortiz and Ennis have history. They discussed a fight when both were at 147 pounds and again just before Boots made the jump to 154. Eddie Hearn, Ennis’s promoter, says his side has agreed to all terms for the fight. Ortiz’s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, says he wants the fight. DAZN, the streaming service that back both, really wants the fight.
“If we come to terms,” said De La Hoya, “it’ll be the biggest fight in recent history.”
But it’s boxing, and what can seem uncomplicated can get very complicated, quickly. After the fight, Ortiz’s trainer, Robert Garcia, noted that Ennis was one of several options Ortiz could consider, naming titleholder Fundora and former champions Jermell Charlo and Errol Spence Jr.—both Charlo and Spence watched Ortiz blitz Lubin from ringside—as possibilities. De La Hoya suggested there could be problems if Ortiz wasn’t properly compensated as the “A” side of the fight. Even Ortiz wouldn’t fully commit.
“I’m here to fight the best,” said Ortiz. “I don’t care who it is. It can be Boots next, it can be Spence next, [Terence] Crawford, if he’s willing to do it, that’s a fight that I have been calling for a while. I think that’s a great fight to make happen still.”
𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘 𝗪𝗘 𝗚𝗢 🍿
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) November 9, 2025
Jaron "Boots" Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr.#OrtizLubin pic.twitter.com/YrV8Hax1Wv
Fundora, Spence, Charlo and Crawford are all terrific fights. But Ennis is the fight. Spence and Charlo have been inactive (neither has fought in more than two years) and both are faded. Crawford competes two divisions higher and is chasing legacy (read: world title) fights. Fundora would be a stiff test—the 6' 6" titleholder is coming off a dominant win over Tim Tszyu—but he isn’t as marketable as Ennis. And Fundora kinda, sorta already has a fight with Keith Thurman scheduled.
Ortiz vs. Ennis represents a rarity in boxing: two young, in-their-prime stars sitting squarely in the same weight class. It would sell out an arena in either Las Vegas or Los Angeles and if promoted properly could generate north of half-a-million pay-per-view buys. Tentpole events like this don’t come along often. When they do, boxing can’t afford to screw them up.
Boxing’s next big fights
- Teofimo Lopez was in Texas this week for Ortiz-Lubin. Lopez offered a sly smile when I asked him to confirm my reporting that he is locked in for a 140-pound title fight with Shakur Stevenson early next year. Still, I’m told that Lopez-Stevenson is all but papered, with Las Vegas and New York the leading cities to host the fight. It’s an intriguing matchup between former Top Rank stablemates who have emerged as the class of the 135- and 140-pound divisions, respectively.
- Speaking of Top Rank, count me among those surprised that the promoter was able to entice 154-pound titleholder Abass Baraou into a unification with Xander Zayas early next year. Not because Baraou is good or marketable or anything more than a 31-year old German who backed into a world title (thanks, WBA) this year. But because Top Rank, which currently does not have a broadcast deal, was able to outbid Matchroom, Golden Boy or any promoter looking to control a junior middleweight belt. I thought Baraou would have been ideal for an Ortiz-Ennis undercard. Give him an easy-ish defense with the stipulation that he had to defend his belt against the winner. Instead, Barou will head to Puerto Rico and try to pull off an upset in Zayas’s backyard.
- Keep your eye on Joshua Edwards, the 25-year-old ex-U.S. Olympic heavyweight who improved to 5–0 with five knockouts on the Ortiz-Lubin undercard. Edwards is gifted. What he lacks in height (6' 3") he makes up for with footwork, accuracy and power. Golden Boy will move Edwards very slowly but with so few American heavyweight prospects, anyone with potential is worth watching.
Chris Eubank Jr. prepares for Conor Benn
Can Conor Benn turn the tables and defeat Chris Eubank Jr.? Benn’s team has been brimming with optimism, predicting that Benn will win so convincingly it will send Eubank Jr. into retirement.
I’m skeptical for two reasons. First, Eubank delaying this fight until November was smart. The first fight was a war, one the 36-year-old Eubank undoubtedly needed more time to recover from than the 29-year old Benn. Then there is the presence of Brian McIntyre, who reunited with Eubank for this fight. BoMac—as the veteran coach of Crawford is known—worked with Eubank for his rematch with Liam Smith, a fight Eubank won by knockout. BoMac brought the best out of Eubank that night and will have a strategy to utilize Eubank’s size advantage.
My prediction: Eubank by (another) decision.
What’s next for Jake Paul?
Will Jake Paul fight in December? In the aftermath of Paul’s exhibition against Gervonta Davis collapsing following another domestic violence accusation leveled at Davis, Paul’s team at Most Valuable Promotions has canvassed boxing looking for a Netflix-approvable opponent. As Sports Illustrated reported last week, Anthony Joshua, Ryan Garcia and Terence Crawford are among the fighters MVP has contacted.
While Garcia passed (Garcia is closing in a 147-pound title showdown against Mario Barrios) and Crawford is targeting a Saudi-backed event in March, MVP has worked to rekindle conversations with Joshua in the last week, sources told SI. Any deal for Joshua is complicated: Joshua is bound by an exclusive contract with DAZN—Hearn, Joshua’s promoter, confirmed to SI last month—which would need to be incentivized to allow Joshua to fight Paul on Netflix. It’s still a long shot but I’m told MVP is not giving up yet.
More Boxing on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Boxing Can’t Afford to Botch a Vergil Ortiz–Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis Showdown.
