Jaron Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr. is rivalry that can define U.S. boxing — but only if Hearn and De La Hoya play it right

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The iconic gong was all the Philadelphia crowd needed to hear.

Jaron Ennis was still in his locker room Saturday at the Wells Fargo Arena when a creeping organ followed the church bells. The Undertaker’s famed WWE theme was an omen. A destroyer from welterweight was about to make his debut at 154 pounds against Uisima Lima, who was already in the ring, like a man waiting for a fate already sealed by boxing’s Deadman.

"Boots" has long been considered one of the sport’s most ferocious fighters. A switch-hitting prodigy who blends Philly slickness with ruthless finishing instincts, he glides between orthodox and southpaw, cutting angles with surgical precision before detonating combinations with effortless, concussive power.

His extended ring-walk Saturday lasted far longer than the fight itself.

Ennis tested his uppercut early. First, he thumped it into Lima's chest. Then, he hammered Lima's chin with another after barely a minute had lapsed in the opening round. It was an early indicator that, when Ennis let his hands go with close to full velocity, he could secure a signature finish. But who expected it to happen as early as it did? In the blink of an eye, "Boots" put Lima on the floor twice with chin-cracking hooks and unrelenting pressure. Lima was hurt early and often, forcing the referee to pull him from the contest after little more than two minutes.

It was all over.

Ennis barely celebrated. It was a Mike Tyson-esque moment. As if he knew all along a first-round knockout was his for the taking, and so Lima’s fate — that realization of an omen — wasn’t worth jumping around the ring for.

"I made a statement," Ennis said on the DAZN broadcast. "Bring me [the] names," he added. “Tick, tock. Gunshot. Y’all know who’s next.”

One name makes more sense than most: “I want Vergil Ortiz.”

Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn, who represents Ennis, called his fighter “the future of the sport of boxing.”

Hearn proclaimed: “Vergil Ortiz will get destroyed by Jaron Ennis. It's the best fight in boxing for America."

And he's right. At least with the latter claim.

Ennis and Ortiz rose side by side for years at 147 pounds — two undefeated knockout artists chasing the same crown, but never crossing paths. Their teams flirted with talks more than once, yet timing kept them apart. Now, at super welterweight, destiny makes the long-delayed showdown inevitable.

Making the fight is easy.

Both are signed to DAZN, and their promoters, Matchroom and Golden Boy, have worked together amicably before — Munguia-Ryder in 2024, Zurdo-Bivol in 2022, Garcia-Campbell in 2021.

The real battle isn’t making it happen, but in keeping it in the States.

Brian Norman vs. Devin Haney headlines this November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. David Benavidez, a Las Vegas draw, tops that same card against Anthony Yarde. Shakur Stevenson has boxed there. So has Ortiz.

Saudi Arabia’s pull is growing and American boxing is losing many of its biggest nights — and fighters — just as Britain and the rest of Europe has.

Ennis vs. Ortiz is an all-American rivalry that demands an all-American stage.

Ortiz is a relentless and heavy-handed fighter whose every punch carries menace and malice. His aggression is wrapped in composure, and when paired with Ennis’ precision and poise, you have American boxing’s next defining rivalry. But only if it’s exposed to as many people as possible, because Ennis vs. Ortiz could almost be on a lesser scale to DAZN, what Saul "Canelo" Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford was for Netflix.

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And while their fists guarantee fireworks, their promoters — Hearn and Oscar De La Hoya — guarantee absurd promotional theater. The build-up alone could remind the mainstream that boxing still belongs in the U.S.

That no major world championship belt is on offer is fitting, as this fight is just as much about who controls the narrative of American boxing’s future.

It reminds me of what De La Hoya told Uncrowned from his Las Vegas home in 2024, that Saudi Arabian money is no match for American marketing and domestic legacy.

“Riyadh can pay me a boatload of money and stage a fight out there, but you’re literally doing an injustice to the fans here in America,” he told me. “The fighters wouldn’t get the publicity or the recognition like fighting here in Vegas.”

He added: “I have to weigh my questions. Quick money in Riyadh and lose the fan base? What’s the right move for the fighters? What’s the right move for the company?”

The right move for U.S. boxing right now is clear.

Ennis and Ortiz must settle their score under American lights where legends are built — and, most importantly, where they’re remembered.