According to insider Dan Rafael, the highly anticipated fight between interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) and IBF welterweight titleholder Jaron Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) will no longer take place.
The bout was initially scheduled to be part of the Riyadh Season boxing event on February 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but negotiations fell through.
Organizers are now searching for a new opponent for Ortiz and have reached out to Samson Lewkowicz, the promoter of WBC and WBO junior middleweight champion Sebastian Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs), to explore his interest in taking the fight. However, Lewkowicz stated that Fundora has other plans.
In August, Vergil Ortiz secured a majority decision victory over Serhii Bohachuk (24-2, 23 KOs). On November 9, Jaron Ennis defeated Karen Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs) via unanimous decision.