Via Knitting Ambrosio: Coach Robert Garcia believes undefeated Vergil Ortiz Jr will give Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis a lot “trouble” when or if they fight.
Garcia admits that fans will pick ‘Boots’ Ennis (29-0.27 KOs) to beat Vergil, but he says he’ll have to “kill” him to win that war.
The pressure that 24-year-old Vergil (19-0, 19 KOs) puts on Ennis will cause him to collapse in the second half of the match, leaving him vulnerable.
What makes it hard to see Ortiz have any chance against a talent like ‘Boots’ Ennis is how he has struggled in his last two games against Michael McKinson and Egidijus ‘Average Machine’ Kavaliauskas. Vergil looked beatable in both of those matches and got hit a lot.
The ‘Medium Machine’ stunned Vergil in their fight last year and got him nearly knocked out early in the competition. As such, if Ortiz has trouble beating fighters like Kavaliauskas and McKinson, it shows that he won’t do well against a talent like ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“If you ask the boxing world, they say, ‘Boots’ Ennis [beats Vergil Ortiz] because of his skill, he has authority and he’s showing who he really is, ‘Boots’ Ennis,” coach Robert Garcia told Young billionaire boxing.
“Skill wise, he canned great; he punches very, very hard. So maybe 90% would say ‘Boots’ Ennis. You can skip him six or eight rounds, but Vergil has that power, that heart, and that chin that you’ll have to kill him to beat him to.
“So Vergil can only do one punch, one round, to win a skirmish. Those are tough guys to beat because they’re not going to come down that easily,” Robert said.
Given the way Vergil is pitted against his promoters at Golden Boy, we probably won’t see him go up against a talent like ‘Boots’ Ennis for many more years. By the time we see them fight, Vergil may have already been defeated by someone else, which should dampen fans’ interest in seeing him go head-to-head with Ennis.
“Therefore, ‘Boots’ Ennis will have trouble with Vergil. Crawford, Spence, you name any weight class, will get in trouble with Vergil because of his style. Vergil won’t give up.
“Vergil will be fit to play 15 rounds. So you won’t stop him. You have to knock him down to stop him. That’s why I think people will probably choose Boots Ennis [to beat Vergil],” Robert said when asked about Ortiz’s recent fight with Michael McKinson.
“I won’t tell him [Vergil] got into trouble, but it wasn’t his best performance that just stemmed from the trouble he was in. He is sick and is in the hospital.
“So a lot of that has affected his performance. Therefore, 90% of people will probably choose ‘Boots’ Ennis [to beat Ortiz]but all I know is that ‘Boots’ Ennis was never tested with a dog like Vergil.
“When Vergil gets in there and doesn’t give up after five or six rounds, even though he’s losing rounds, he’s going to keep going and keep going, ‘Boots’ Ennis is going to be hell for the year. or the last six rounds, Garcia said.
It would be great if Golden Boy started taking on Vergil with quality fighters, but it looks like they’re focusing on getting him in with light touches.
Vergil is being played by Golden Boy as they did with Ryan Garcia. If you look at the warriors Ryan is facing, he’s being brought in with powerless old dogs who are past their prime.
There’s very little chance of Golden Boy throwing Vergil into the ring with a dangerous boxer like ‘Boots’ Ennis and watching him tear apart.
