The boxing calendar appears to be picking up as Ring Magazine news breaker Mike Coppinger suggests movements are being made in two tentpole fights — Golden Boy and Matchroom’s Vergil Ortiz vs Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, and Premier Boxing Champions and No Limit Boxing’s Errol Spence Jr. vs Tim Tszyu.
Spence has been circling a return to the ring having not fought since his 2023 loss via knockout to Terence Crawford.
He was seen in the ring with Sebastian Fundora after ‘The Towering Inferno’s’ thumping win over Tszyu last year, but, per Ring, it is Tszyu who Spence will fight with a “deal in place” for the summer — perhaps at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Tszyu built a solid record of 24-0, beating Tony Harrison, Takeshi Inoue, and Jeff Horn until he ran into Fundora for the first time, losing by decision in a bloodbath, before losing by third-round knockout to Bakhram Murtazliaev. He rebounded with a win against Joseph Spencer, lost to Fundora again, but out-pointed Anthony Velazquez in December.
According to Coppinger, he’ll likely have a fight before the Spence event.
It’s not the only blockbuster in the works, according to Ring, as the same publication suggests Ortiz and Ennis — two of the most in-form fighters in the sport — are “almost set for [an] April clash.”
Ortiz, 27, has finished 22 of the 24 fighters he’s beaten, looking immaculate against Erickson Lubin, whom he destroyed inside two rounds in Fort Worth to retain the WBC interim title at super welterweight.
Ennis, 28, is also a thunderous puncher as he’s scored 31 stoppages from 35 wins, but is yet to compete in a spectacle like the one that he and Ortiz will no doubt create.
The two rivals came together in the ring shortly after Ortiz’s beating of Lubin for a dramatic face-off that was arguably one of the most gripping scenes DAZN has ever broadcast for the American market.
But despite the fan demand and the clear narrative at play, it was never clear the fight could still happen next, as Ortiz recently sued promoter Golden Boy and accused its founder Oscar de la Hoya of scuppering the chances of getting the ‘Boots’ fight over the line.
It seems, for now at least, that everyone is back on the negotiation table.
