Vergil Ortiz’s plane seat turned into a bed but that didn’t help the boxer this week as he flew from Texas to London to Saudi Arabia.

“I can’t sleep on planes,” Ortiz said. “My sleep schedule is messed up.”

Ortiz may consider this trip a test run as he expects to be back in Saudi Arabia in February for a fight against Jaron “Boots” Ennis, the undefeated boxer from Philadelphia and the city’s lone world champion.

Ennis defended his IBF welterweight title – a belt he would vacate to compete for Ortiz’s 154-pound crown – last week at the Wells Fargo Center but his unanimous decision over Karen Chukhadzhian was uninspiring. Ennis’ father said his son seemed bored. Ortiz, scouting from home, was not impressed.

» READ MORE: Jaron Ennis remains undefeated and is looking to step up for a “brilliant fight” against Vergil Ortiz

“I think we all feel the same way. It was just an underwhelming performance,” said the undefeated Ortiz, who has recorded all but one of his 22 wins by knockout. “I wasn’t in the ring so I can’t tell you what went through his head, but I think he has a lot of pressure.

“Being in his hometown and everyone expected a knockout. His corner said to him, ‘How come we haven’t knocked him out yet?’ He just focused on his offense instead of his defense. I think that’s the first time I’ve seen him get hit consistently with big shots.”

Ortiz, 26, is in Saudi Arabia to work as a broadcaster for Saturday’s card on DAZN headlined by a cruiserweight title unification between Gilberto Ramirez (46-1, 30 KOs) and Chris Billam-Smith (20-1, 13 KOs).

Oscar De La Hoya, Ortiz’s promoter, and Eddie Hearn, Ennis’ promoter, said they are in talks for Ortiz and Ennis to meet on February 22. Last week Hearn called it a “brilliant fight” but De La Hoya said this week that Hearn was afraid to match fighters and said Ennis looked like an amateur against Chukhadzhian.

“I don’t think he looked that good,” Ortiz said. “But it doesn’t take too much away from him as a fighter. Just because you have a bad night as a fighter doesn’t mean anything. Hopefully it happens in February.”

A day before Ennis’ last fight, his father and trainer, Bozy, said he was told Ortiz had turned down a fight with Ennis. Ortiz said that never happened.

“It was just a complete lie,” Ortiz said. “Like, ‘What are you talking about?’ It was a lie that could be so easily disproved. Like, ‘Okay. Who did you talk to? ‘We talked to that guy.’ ‘Is it true?’ ‘None. It’s not true.’ Why lie about something that can be so easily disproved?”

Ennis planned to unify the 147-pound division, but Hearn struggled to adjust the Germantown native against fellow welterweight champions. So Ennis instead appears poised to move up to junior middleweight, a weight class that has more profile opponents than welterweight. A fight with Ortiz would easily be both the highest-profile matchup for Ennis and the steepest challenge.

Ortiz was not impressed with the performance he saw on TV but he expects a better showing from Ennis if they meet in February. First, they both need to adjust their sleep patterns.

“He’s a dangerous fighter,” Ortiz said. “Honestly, my opinion of him hasn’t changed. I know he’s a dangerous fighter. I know he’s a good fighter.”