“Boots is part of the plan, but it doesn’t have to be next,” De La Hoya said in January. “Eddie, since you’re so desperate to make this fight, let’s do this: 60/40 for Vergil and 5% to the winner because I’m generous, and I’m not moving off those numbers.”
Golden Boy treated Ortiz like the established attraction, even though Ennis had been a two-belt titlist at welterweight and proven his ability to sell tickets on the East Coast. Ortiz had never headlined a major pay-per-view or generated comparable gate revenue.
The WBC interim belt gave Ortiz Jr. a negotiating tool, but it did not make him the commercial leader of the division. Golden Boy tried to turn temporary sanctioning body status into promotional dominance. Once Ennis accepted the smaller share, the biggest obstacle should have been gone. The fight still did not happen.
A breach of contract lawsuit against Golden Boy tied up much of Ortiz’s year before the dispute was settled in July. During that lost period, Ennis moved on and accepted the type of risk Ortiz’s side had avoided. He faced unified super welterweight champion Xander Zayas as the B side, helped draw 15,000 fans to Barclays Center and came away with two belts.
Their career choices produced opposite results. Ennis accepted the subordinate role because beating Zayas offered him a route to the top. Ortiz’s team fought over contractual and financial positioning before he had beaten the opponent needed to justify it.
Ennis now has everything Ortiz Jr. was trying to negotiate without fighting him: championship status, greater leverage and command of the division’s biggest fights. A bout against Josh Kelly is planned for later this year. If Ennis and WBC champion Sebastian Fundora continue winning, an undisputed fight between them can be made in 2027. Staying at 154 has placed Ennis inside a valuable series of title fights.
By moving to middleweight, Vergil Jr. has removed himself from that group. The change may reduce the strain of making 154 pounds, but the division offers fewer major names. Team Ortiz Jr. is pursuing possible fights against Jermell Charlo and Tim Tszyu, although both men have expressed interest in facing each other. If Charlo and Tszyu meet, Ortiz Jr. may find himself at 160 lacking a major opponent, a full world title or the large payday he missed against Ennis. Beating lower-profile middleweights would keep him active, but it would not replace the attention available in fights with Ennis or Fundora.
Leaving junior middleweight means Ortiz Jr. departs without getting either man or turning his interim status into full championship recognition. He spent months protecting an A side designation that brought him nothing. There was no larger purse against Ennis because there was no fight, and his bargaining position never became a championship opportunity.
Middleweight gives Ortiz a new starting point, but it also confirms how badly the Ennis negotiations were handled. Ennis took unfavorable terms, backed himself against a champion and took over at 154. Ortiz demanded control, missed the fight and abandoned the division empty handed.
