Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn talks to Fight Hub TV about how long they plan to try to make a Vergil Ortiz fight for Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis before moving on to another opponent, where things stand with Jesse
‘Bam’ Rodriguez, Zuffa’s first boxing show and this weekend’s main event between Teofimo Lopez vs Shakur Stevenson. Check out some excerpts from Hearn below.
Hearn on when Boots will move on from a Vergil fight
“I think we are right on the line of making that fight. Obviously, there’s been a lot happening lately which has made it a little bit more difficult to make that fight…Josh Kelly is actually signed to fight Boots Ennis in his contract, so that would be an easy fight to make. Xander Zayas and Abass Baraou will unify this weekend as well, so they’re both potentials, the winner of that fight. But we want the Vergil Ortiz fight…I think that’s the best fight in American boxing to make…”
On when we can expect an announcement of Boots’ next fight
“March 28th is the date that we have planned. If it squeezes into April and it’s the right fight for Boots, no problem at all, but Boots is ready.”
On Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez potentially not re-signing with Matchroom
“We know our contractual position, obviously, on the matching rights, which we have adhered to. And as far as we’re concerned the situation is pretty simple, really, and we’ll move forward with Bam. Robert Garcia phoned my on Sunday and said just that, that we’ll be moving forward and we’re planning dates for his next fight.”
On Zuffa Boxing’s first card
“What I’ve said is Zuffa in boxing is great for boxing, right. If you ask me about the card? I mean, if we’re positioning that as high-level competition to PBC and Top Rank and us, it was low-level and it looked like it lacked a bit of ambition. But these guys are long-term players, they’re not like ‘ah, we really need to get off to a good start and we really need to get some momentum.’ They’re going to learn, they’re going to evolve as they go.
“I think the most interesting thing is going to be the governing body situation, ‘cause they made it clear they didn’t want any belts and now they’ve got Jai Opetaia fighting for the WBC title in March, I believe it is. So it’s going to be fascinating to see how that plays out.”
On Teofimo vs Shakur
“I think Shakur will always be a favorite in my eyes because I think he’s an incredible fighter. So is Teo. But, consistently, I just feel like Shakur is very, very difficult to beat. I don’t know what you do to beat him. Do you try and be a little bit tricky with him, do you try and play his own game? Difficult. Do you be aggressive and try to take him out of his rhythm? Difficult. But Teofimo is a little but of a master in the respect of coming up and sort of doing the unexpected, which is to win fights like this.”
