How a possible Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs Jaron 'Boots' Ennis fight could come down to these two piercing questions

Vergil Ortiz Jr. insists he is not looking past Erickson Lubin this weekend in Fort Worth, Texas, and live on DAZN.

But the lure of talking about a possible showdown with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in 2026 has been hard to parry and slip for Ortiz.

How would a such a mega fight between the two undefeated super welterweight interim titleholders play out?

Well, to answer that DAZN News considers two situational questions built on both Ortiz' and Ennis' styles.

Can Ennis’ sweet science brilliance keep him from being walked down and dismantled by a rugged Ortiz?

Emma Brawley/Matchroom Boxing

Simply put: Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is one the best ring operators that the sweet science has to offer, seemingly in possession of every kind of punch to reach into and use at his disposal from his deep boxing bag. Elusive on defense with the ability to switch stances seamlessly within the flow of a fight, the Philadelphia fighter and WBA interim super welterweight titleholder also manages his ring real estate effectively, giving opponents fits with his spacing and boxing.

Ennis has fought former champions in Eimantas Stanionis, David Avenesyan, and Sergey Lipinets, stopping all three. Having that experience helped sharpen Ennis’ tools, though that can’t be said about the first-round TKO of Uisma Lima just last month where he completely outclassed the Angolan fighter in under two minutes.

On a recent episode of All The Smoke Fight, Boxing Hall of Famer Andre Ward expressed concern about ‘Boots’ overdoing it in the gym with sparring and about his overall quality of opponents.

“If you spend too long at a certain level, you start to get a false sense of yourself,” said Ward. “You assume and you tell yourself 'I can take a shot. I walk through that, why can’t I walk through this? I walked through this in sparring.’ Sparring is different than a fight."

All this being said, as adept in spacing and boxing as ‘Boots’ is, can he stop an aggressive Ortiz from walking him down and dismantling him?

Ortiz has shown a penchant for throwing his gloves up in a high guard, absorbing contact and eating punches if he has to in order to land more punishing shots of his own. ‘The Texas Machine’ has been knocked down, but never knocked out.

Can Ennis withstand Ortiz’ forward-fighting force and 91.3 percent knockout ratio?

That’s one of the burning questions this potential blockbuster bout would reveal.

Will Ortiz’ grit and durability be enough to resolve Ennis’ deep bag of boxing skills?

Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy

Throughout his career, but especially over his latest points victories over Serhii Bohachuk and Israil Madrimov, Ortiz has demonstrated the kind of grit and durability of a world champion. 

If Ennis’ bag of sweet science skills is so deep as advertised, will Ortiz’ mettle be enough to resolve the complex puzzle that 'Boots' presents?

It is a pointed question as Ennis, in switching stances effortlessly and scoring points along the way, aims to prove he is levels above Ortiz in boxing.

What bodes well for ‘Boots’ — at least on paper — is the Bohachuk-Ortiz fight had the Ukrainian fighter drop ‘The Texas Machine’ twice via flash knockdowns. Ennis, being the slick Philly fighter he is, maneuvers around with great use of his ring real estate, seemingly knowing the exact potshot to unload at the apt time.

Who’s to say, he cannot produce just the weapon needed to score a flash knockdown of Ortiz himself? He certainly owns the skills to try. 

Can Ortiz effectively walk 'Boots' down and muscle his way to victory? It's possible as boxing fans have seen 'The Texas Machine' do this to other opponents.

But to truly reveal the answers to these questions, Ortiz must get past a tough Lubin first.

Watch Oritz Jr. vs. Lubin live on DAZN

Vergil Ortiz Jr. vs. Erickson Lubin is live on DAZN this Saturday night, November 8. Watch the fight and whole card with a DAZN subscription.

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