Jaron Ennis moved to super welterweight under the assumption of challenging the best in the division, yet despite rumors of an upcoming bout against fellow American Vergil Ortiz Jr, Ennis does not actually have intentions towards being competitive as revealed by Turki Alalshikh during a recent interview.
Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn ― promoter of Jaron Ennis (34-0, 30 KO’s) ― recently revealed a fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KO’s) was being discussed, and despite a lack of confirmation of formal negotiations taking place, a fight between Ennis and Ortiz on a Riyadh Season or The Ring card seemed likely to be announced in the near future.
However, Jaron Ennis himself appears to have different intentions for his career as Turki Alalshikh unveiled in a recent interview startling facts surrounding Ennis’ demands for participating on one of Alalshikh’s cards.
“The only thing Riyadh Season will ask [the fighter] is, if [they] have the balls to [be in big fights], any fighter, I would not give you a tune-up fight,” Alalshikh asserted. “This is what damages boxing. I will try to do #1 against #2. If we can not have #1 against #2, I will have #1 against #3.
“I want to do big fights. If I want to do [Anthony] Joshua vs. Tyson Fury next year, I need to arrange tune-up fights for each of them first. Why? Because both of them are coming off losses.
“But with Ennis ― and this is the first time he and me were doing business, he asked to go to 154 [lbs] and have a tune-up fight first. I’m not charity. Go do it with Eddie [Hearn] and if you’re ready [for a big fight], on my side, you will have a lot of people waiting for you.“
According to Alalshikh, he and Ennis recently were in discussions for the American fighter’s participation on a Riyadh Season or The Ring card, yet it appears Ennis sought to feature against tune-up fighters on the aforementioned events; much to Alalshikh’s dislike who only primarily seeks competitive fights for the cards he sponsors.
Ennis’ intentions to fight the best at super welterweight (154 lbs) appears to be part of a long-term plan that will first see him go up against tune-ups rather than the best available ― a direct contradiction to prior statements made by Eddie Hearn where Ennis reportedly wanted to be involved in the biggest fights available.
