Some things will never change.
Although the rise of Turki Alalshikh has been useful for the sport, the collapse of negotiations between Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. is proof that politics will always reign supreme in boxing in some fashion. There’s been a common misconception that Turki would save boxing and that fighters always want to fight the best. Both are untrue. The fact of the matter is that most people who are embedded in the business don’t really want to “fix” boxing. They would much rather pontificate and give theories, but the actual solution is much more complicated.
But let’s focus the first portion of this dictation on Ennis-Ortiz. “Boots” had reportedly reached a verbal agreement to face Ortiz subject to a formal announcement. It turns out Team Ennis wasted everyone’s time and tried to sneak in 147 pounds in the contract at the last minute. If you’ve been paying attention, Ortiz can’t make 147 pounds, and he’s been hospitalized the last several times he’s attempted to make the welterweight limit due to rhabdomyolysis. Furthermore, after his most recent win over Karen Chukhadzhian, Ennis said it “may be time” to move up to 154 pounds. So why would they even envision fighting Ortiz at welterweight?
Well, that’s one way to say you don’t actually want the fight, and this is where Turki’s efforts come up short, but to no fault of his own. We can dream all we want, but if one of the parties doesn’t actually want to come to the table and submit a legitimate offer, there’s nothing Turki can do except possibly throw more money on the table.
Ever since he was awarded the IBF welterweight title when current WBA junior middleweight champion Terence Crawford vacated the belt, Ennis has struggled to make meaningful fights. It certainly doesn’t help when you’re inactive for a year and fail to make unifications. He could have fought WBO titlist Brian Norman Jr. rather than face Chukhadzhian a second time, but disagreements over the purse destroyed any chance of that happening. Norman’s team was heavily criticized when those talks fell apart, but after this debacle with Ortiz, are we sure Team Ennis wasn’t to blame? Why is this happening?
Well, in the case of Ortiz, Boots’ last fight was far from impressive. He defeated Chukhadzhian in their lowly-anticipated rematch by unanimous decision on November 9 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. Ennis dropped Chukhadzhian with a series of hard shots in the fifth round, but the Ukrainian rallied to hurt him down the stretch. Rather than impressing in the sequel, Ennis labored to the finish line.
Let’s cut to the chase. Ennis is a very talented, exciting, but flawed fighter. He is defensively limited, but it can be hard to catch unless you pay attention to every little detail. Even in the Thomas Dulorme fight, when Ennis scored a first-round knockout, he was getting caught flush with big shots that didn’t seem to phase him. Dulorme was a solid junior welterweight contender in his prime, but he’s never been a big puncher. In the second fight with Chukhadzhian, we saw Ennis clearly get hurt at points throughout the fight, and Chukhadzhian is not exactly a huge puncher, either. In 27 pro fights, he only has 13 knockouts. Up until his last fight against Serhii Bohachuk, Vergil Ortiz Jr. had knocked out every single fighter that stepped into the ring against him. Let’s ask the question, albeit there’s an easy answer. Is it a good idea for Ennis to face Ortiz at this stage of his career? Absolutely not. That’s the truth. He’s not ready, and instead of saying that, his team, including Eddie Hearn, pulled the classic bait and switch. They know damn well Ortiz can’t make 147 pounds. It’s laughable.
Again, this is classic politics. Going back to Alalshikh, he is continuing to expand his power and influence. Last month, Turki announced the purchase of The Ring Magazine. He bought the longtime publication from Oscar De La Hoya, who sold it for $10 million. You don’t buy something like The Ring Magazine for that amount unless you really love boxing. Turki gets a lot of criticism for the way he has handled a few things, but at the end of the day, his business is trying to make the best fights happen.
It’s a shame that some fans are celebrating the fact that Ennis-Ortiz fell through solely due to the fact it was Alalshikh pushing for the fight all along. Regardless of your thoughts about Saudi Arabia, Turki is not the reason American boxing is in shambles. And if he didn’t care about the state of boxing in the United States, he wouldn’t have staged the Crawford-Madrimov fight in Los Angeles of all places. We should be encouraging people like Alalshikh to continue their efforts to make the best fights that fans desperately yearn to see.
And while we’re on the topic, UFC president Dana White has teased about promoting boxing for years and stated in recent months that he was finally ready to venture into the sport. Again, some things never change. In the UFC, White has total control. Over here, it’s out of control. That would require another 800-1,000 words, so we’ll address that once he finally decides to pull the trigger on this next venture.
To encapsulate, Turki is a great asset to boxing, but he can’t make all of our dreams come true. Politics will always carry a heavy burden, but when the stars align, fans will be very happy with the final product.
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