“The fight is very close,” Garcia told BoxingScene. “Eric Gomez, Vergil Senior, Rick Mirigian, they all came to me and asked me what I think about the fight. I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ There is no need to wait for that fight, there’s no need to get a fight before that.”

Robert also dismissed suggestions that Ortiz needs another fight before facing Ennis, pointing to his recent activity and performance against Israil Madrimov.

“Vergil fought less than a year ago. There’s world champions right now that fight once a year or once every 18 months, and nobody says they’re out of timing because of the delay,” Robert said. “Vergil fought less than a year ago, and people seem to forget his performance against Madrimov.”

Garcia finished by making it clear that he believes the only remaining hurdle is Ennis’ side accepting the fight.

“The fight will happen. The only thing that could stop the fight is if Boots decides not to fight, but the fight on our side. It’s a done deal,” said Robert.

Ennis captured the WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles with a seventh-round stoppage of Xander Zayas on June 27. Ortiz last fought in November 2025, when he stopped Erickson Lubin in two rounds. If finalized, the bout would match Ennis’ unified titles against Ortiz’s WBC interim championship in one of the division’s biggest unification fights.