On January 7, 2023, Jaron “Boots” Ennis will make his way down to the nation’s capital and seek his 30th victory as a professional. Ennis must get by Karen Chukhadzhian of Ukraine in an interim title fight, but he is already excited about what the rest of the new year may hold. During a recent interview with Boxing Scene, the Philadelphia native was excited about the possibility of fighting fellow undefeated welterweight contender Vergil Ortiz Jr.
“If it was up to me, we’d be fighting next,” Ennis told Boxing Scene.
“People think that’s a big-time fight, so I definitely think that’s a big fight and I want it to happen. Let’s make it happen.”
Similar to Ennis, Ortiz Jr. must get by his next opponent before thinking about a showdown with Ennis. The Texas native is expected to fight Eimantas Stanionis in 2023. When asked to predict who would win the fight, Ennis was unsure.
“I’m not too sure. [Ortiz] might take it because he’s young and hungry,” Ennis explained, per Boxing Scene.
“Or he might try to go back to his team and try to get a little bit more money. We’ll see what happens.”
As Ennis sees it, it’s a “50-50” fight. In contrast, the undefeated contender is confident he’ll get by Chukhadzhian in 2023.
“[On] January 7th, we [are] invading [Washington], D.C. on Showtime PPV [and] I’ll be collecting the IBF interim [b]elt,” he tweeted.
“I can’t wait. [It’s] almost time to do it again.”
