{"id":696977,"date":"2026-01-15T05:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T05:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/696977\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T05:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T05:30:08","slug":"fighter-who-sparred-both-jaron-ennis-and-vergil-ortiz-compares-their-skillsets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/696977\/","title":{"rendered":"Fighter who sparred both Jaron Ennis and Vergil Ortiz compares their skillsets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unbeaten welterweight contender Delante Johnson, who has sparred Vergil Ortiz Jr<\/a> and Jaron Ennis<\/a>, believes that one has \u2018more tools in his bag.\u2019<\/p>\n

The two undefeated super-welterweight operators have been on a collision course since their days at 147lbs but, even now, it would seem that their all-American clash remains a few steps away from materialising.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, there is still hope that at some point later this year the pair will finally lock horns in what promises to be a truly captivating affair.<\/p>\n

Ortiz has established himself as the more proven contender at 154lbs, particularly with points victories over Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk.<\/p>\n

It was then a two-round demolition job against Erickson Lubin<\/a>, which took place in November, that cemented the 27-year-old as one of his division\u2019s most formidable punchers.<\/p>\n

Ennis, meanwhile, was able to outshine his domestic rival at welterweight, becoming a unified world champion following his sixth-round stoppage victory over Eimantas Stanionis in April 2025.<\/p>\n

After that, \u2018Boots\u2019 made the decision to move up in weight and faced Uisma Lima, who he ruthlessly dispatched in one round<\/a> last October.<\/p>\n

Since then, a fight between Ortiz and Ennis has been teased by Matchroom boss Eddie Hearn, who promotes the latter, as a genuine possibility for this year.<\/p>\n

Fans hold out hope, however recent comments from Ortiz\u2019s promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, and his manager, Rick Mirigian, do not bode well for the fight\u2019s chances.<\/p>\n

If it does, Delante Johnson, who spoke with YSM Sports Media<\/a>, is as good a man to rate the pair as any. After multiple rounds of sparring with both Ennis and Ortiz, he was asked to compare and contrast.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI feel like Vergil has good timing, and he\u2019s strong. And he has good head movement when he\u2019s being aggressive, walking somebody down.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I feel like \u2018Boots\u2019 has more tools in his bag. He can switch from [orthodox to southpaw], he\u2019s got speed, power, [and] he\u2019s got really good timing.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis footwork is real good and he\u2019s crafty and smart.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Whether the recent performances of Ortiz have changed Johnson\u2019s mind, it remains to be seen, but the American nonetheless seems more convinced by the flashy skills of Ennis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Unbeaten welterweight contender Delante Johnson, who has sparred Vergil Ortiz Jr and Jaron Ennis, believes that one has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":696978,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4108],"tags":[1935,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-696977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115897475318607035","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=696977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/696977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/696978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=696977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=696977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=696977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}