“I’ve been asking for that fight for a while now. I think he’s a great fighter and I would like to test myself against him. He’s a great fighter, very talented,” interim WBC super welterweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. said about wanting to face former undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford in an interview with DAZN Boxing recently. 

In the meantime, there have been some rumors on the web about a fight between the duo coming to fruition. It’s no secret that Ortiz Jr. has been craving a duel with the Nebraska-born pound-for-pound champion for a while now. In fact, he jumped head first when His Excellency Turki Alalshikh was contemplating a fight between them back in August.

So, does that mean the rumors about Crawford and Ortiz Jr. are true? As it turns out, Ortiz Jr. himself has shed light on the matter on social media while interacting with a fan. You see, earlier today, while sharing a makeshift poster for Terence Crawford vs. Ortiz a user on X wrote, “@VergilOrtiz I knew you [were] capping with that ‘Boots’ fight. But this is a good scrap too if this is even true.”

It’s worth mentioning that following Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ rematch win against Karen Chukhadzhian, Ortiz Jr. was critical of Ennis’ performance. He even hinted at potential negotiations between the two parties, noting, “It could be in February, that’s when I’m going to fight. If it’s him or not, I’m fighting in February. Yeah, I think I’m gonna fight [in Riyadh] in February.”

Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, seemed open to the bout, stating, “We’re ready to go for February 22. The plan was to fight Karen and unify but like I said, it’s getting tight there at 147, and we gotta probably move to 154.” Regardless, responding to the tweet from the user about his fight against Terence Crawford, Ortiz Jr. wrote, “Don’t believe anything unless me, Goldenboy, or my manager post it!” 

With that, it’s pretty clear there are no such fights in the making, as of now, even though Ortiz’s past claims highlight his eagerness to clash with ‘Bud.’ Nonetheless, even the potential Jaron Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr. fight is riddled with conflicting claims.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Jaron Ennis: A confusing mess

The potential showdown between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Jaron Ennis has become a mess to say the least, fueled by conflicting claims and public disputes. That drama kicked off, when Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis, Jaron’s father and trainer, appeared in an interview earlier this month. “They already asked about that and they said [Ortiz’s team] turned it down,” ‘Bozy’ said about a fight offer from Ortiz Jr. for his son. 

When pressed about whether it was Golden Boy who declined, Ennis Sr. added, “They said they turned it down. We’ll fight him in a heartbeat.” Oscar De La Hoya, who promotes Ortiz Jr., quickly came up with a response, branding the statement “Bulls**t” on social media. Ortiz Jr. also chimed in, tweeting, “First time I’m hearing about this, lol. I’m always down for a great fight, I didn’t turn anything down.”

It seems that Vergil Ortiz Jr.’s next opponent is still undecided. However, he has made it clear that it won’t be Terence Crawford — and if it were, he’d be the first to announce it. Who do you think Ortiz Jr. will face in February?