A POTENTIALLY ERA- DEFINING FIGHT BETWEEN JARON ENNIS AND VERGIL ORTIZ JR. IS NEARING IGNITION IN THE 154-POUND DIVISION By Corey Erdman
JUNIOR MIDDLE GROUND
F or somewhere between five and seven years, Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr. have been shouldered with the burden of being labeled the Future of Boxing. Of course, there are fruits that come with having lofty expectations – television time, bigger purses, more exposure. But when the expectation is that you are the next star in the sport, one of the men to carry it into the next era, there are constant questions being asked about you – and of you – by the boxing public. Is he overhyped? When are you going to fight the big names? Because once that label is applied to you, the line of fans and fighters looking to prove it wrong is longer than the one with people hoping the scouting report is correct. Ennis and Ortiz essentially traveled a parallel path as the Future and have simply emerged as the Present, a feat that’s accomplished only by a special few. Every day, there is a
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