Follow Vergil Ortiz’s swift knockout of Erickson Lubin last night a lot of the attention turned immediately to a proposed fight between Ortiz and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. Here, however, trainer Robert Garcia explains how Ortiz is in a good position where he has a number of big fights on the table and that Boots doesn’t necessarily have to be up next. Here’s some excerpts of what Garcia had to say below.
Garcia on if he sees an Ortiz vs Boots fight getting finalized
“Look, it could get done at anytime. We’re ready for anybody but we got a lot of options. Fundora is
our mandatory so we would love to take that one, too. Spence was here, too. Charlo was here, too. You know, Boots is here, too, he wants it, so any of those big fights could happen. We’re ready for any of them.”
On if he saw the Lubin fight playing out the way it did
“I was thinking eight or nine rounds, because I did expect for a knockout but I thought eight or nine rounds. But he found that opportunity and took advantage of it.
“I don’t know if you guys noticed but I came in with a stool like I always do if I see somebody in danger. I came in with a stool and I hold him and I sat him down and he was still out when I came in. The ref did a great job, he noticed that. But, yeah, when I came in he was still hurt so I put him — obviously sat him down — and then his team came in and I walked away. But that was the first thing to do and he was still very hurt.”
On what fight he wants to see Ortiz in next
“Look, there’s so many. Honestly, our mandatory is the WBC, Fundora, but he’s got other plans with his fight against Thurman in January or February so that might take a little bit longer. So we might have to take something else before that. Spence was here, Charlo was here, Boots was here — there’s a lot of big fights for Vergil.
“I think we could do five, six fights that are going to be huge. I think this is the perfect moment for Vergil, Mexican American, to become the PPV star, the one everybody wants to challenge because it’s the biggest fight for them. I think we got options. If it’s Boots, beautiful, ‘cause that’s a huge fight. But so is Spence, so is Charlo, so is Fundora, so is Xander Zayas. They’re all huge fights and that makes Mexican American become a superstar.”
On the hype building towards a Boots fight for it now to seem like it’s not necessarily a given
“Well, if it’s Ennis or not, like I said, I already mentioned like five names out there that are huge in the division. So we got options, we’re not chasing one. It looks like everybody is chasing us now. We’re the name, we’re the one everybody wants to fight. Charlo, we kind of crossed in the hallway, and Charlo started challenging us, too. So Charlo’s also available. There’s a lot of fights out there, and the names are big enough for Vergil to become the next PPV star.”
