Vergil Ortiz is wary of the consequences of his fight with Eimantas Stanionis clashing with Jaron Ennis-Roiman Villa.
In the event of the victories predicted for Ortiz and “Boots” Ennis they will again be regarded as the future of the welterweight division that is widely expected to move into a new era after the fight between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence at the end of the month.
The 25-year-old Ortiz fights Stanionis, of Lithuania and 28, at the AT&T Center in San Antonio on a rival promotion to that on which Ennis fights Roiman Villa in Atlantic City, and recognises the risk of the audiences for their fights therefore being reduced.
Ortiz and Ennis could yet prove capable of having a rivalry similar to that between Crawford and Spence, but Ortiz, who is guided by Golden Boy Promotions, said: “It’s conflicting. It really is conflicting – especially when you see fighters coming out of the same weight class as well.
“‘Which one am I gonna watch?’ I’m not necessarily worried about it, because I have something else to worry about that night, but if I had a say so, then yes, we should have fought on different nights.”
Asked about a potential future fight between he and Ennis, who fights on Saturday on a promotion overseen by Premier Boxing Champions, Ortiz said: “It’s an interesting fight, for sure, and we’ll just have to wait and see for that to happen, but it’s definitely interesting. I don’t watch him fight a whole lot, but I can’t say nothing bad against him – he’s a good fighter.
“I don’t think his opponent [Roiman Villa] is easy at all. We saw what he did with [Rashidi] Ellis [earning a majority decision in January] – which proved anyone can be dangerous at anytime, so I don’t like doubting fighters.
“I [also] don’t care about what people think about who’s ahead and who’s not. I’m the best welterweight – that’s the bottom line.”
