The update marked the clearest signal yet that months of public negotiating, legal tension, and posturing were finally giving option to an agreement.
The timing isn’t incidental. For much of the past three months, the fight existed in theory while alternatives were floated in public. Ortiz’s side insisted on A side status. Other options were referenced. The rhetoric was loud. The movement was minimal.
What modified was not sentiment. It was leverage.
Why the Talks Suddenly Shifted
Multiple industry reports, later expanded on by BoxingScene author Jake Donovan, made clear that DAZN had little interest in financing any bout for either fighter that didn’t involve the opposite. Once that position hardened, the negotiating space narrowed quickly. There was not a reputable financial exit ramp.
That reality coincided with instability elsewhere. Golden Boy Promotions was nearing the tip of its existing DAZN deal. Ortiz was engaged in a lawsuit searching for to void his promotional contract, alleging breach and interference. The mixture left little room for brinkmanship. Whatever leverage existed on paper was not backed by a willing platform.
From that time forward, the fight stopped being a debate and commenced becoming a necessity.
Ennis had already made his intentions plain last fall, traveling to Fort Value to look at Ortiz’s stoppage win over Erickson Lubin and publicly calling for the fight immediately afterward. The keenness was real, but enthusiasm alone didn’t move negotiations. Only when the financial alternatives disappeared did progress follow.
That sequence is significant. It redefines the bout not as a triumph of ambition or fan demand, but for example of how modern boxing power actually works. In 2026, A side status isn’t any longer something a promoter can declare. It exists provided that a broadcaster is ready to fund it.
Donovan’s reporting filled within the connective tissue around that reality. His account detailed the stalled talks, the hard lines taken early, and the quiet shift once it became clear there was no appetite for substitutes. The through line was consistent. Once the platform’s stance was understood, resistance faded.
If the fight is finalized this week, it’s going to be welcomed for sporting reasons. Ennis vs Ortiz is the matchup the division has talked about for years. But it’s going to also stand as a reminder that the bout happened not because every party suddenly agreed, but since the economic environment removed every other option.
In the long run, ego didn’t make this fight. Reality did.