“Boots is part of the plan, but it doesn’t have to be next,” De La Hoya said in January. “Eddie, since you’re so desperate to make this fight, let’s do this: 60/40 for Vergil and 5% to the winner because I’m generous, and I’m not moving off those numbers.”
Golden Boy treated Ortiz like the established attraction, even though Ennis had been a two-belt titlist at welterweight and proven his ability to sell tickets on the East Coast. Ortiz had never headlined a major pay-per-view or generated comparable gate revenue.
The WBC interim belt gave Ortiz Jr. a negotiating tool, but it did not make him the commercial le
