Hearn doesn’t necessarily think, though, that Ortiz could be the next opponent for Jaron Ennis “when” he defeats Xander Zayas on Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

“It’s possible,” Hearn told The Ring, “but I think Ortiz is gonna want a warmup fight because he’s been out of the ring a long time.”

Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs) hasn’t fought since he knocked out Erickson Lubin in the second round November 8 in Fort Worth, Texas. He remains ranked No. 1 among The Ring’s junior middleweight contenders for a vacant championship — ahead of the third-ranked Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs) and the fifth-ranked Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs).

Ennis confronted Ortiz in the ring immediately after his impressive victory over Lubin (27-3, 19 KOs) at Dickies Arena.

Hearn, whose company, Matchroom Boxing, represents Ennis, and Oscar De La Hoya thought then they would finally fight next. Ortiz instead sued Golden Boy Promotions for breach of contract in mid-January.

A Nevada judge ruled in Golden Boy’s favor early in March, which put Ortiz’s career on hold and led Ennis into a fight for Zayas’ WBA and WBO belts. An arbitration hearing regarding Ortiz’s contract status is scheduled for July 14.

De La Hoya told DAZN’s Chris Mannix during a Golden Boy card Saturday night, however, that he hoped ongoing negotiations would lead to the cancelation of the hearing and scheduling Ortiz’s next bout. The retired six-division champion stated that he wants Ortiz to box before the end of this year, though he didn’t mention potential dates or opponents.

If Ennis, a 5-1 favorite according to DraftKings, beats Zayas, Hearn knows the former Ring, IBF and WBA welterweight champ will want to pursue title unification clashes with WBC champ Sebastian Fundora (24-1-1, 16 KOs) and IBF titleholder Josh Kelly (18-1-1, 9 KOs).

Hearn’s company works with England’s Kelly as well, which would help facilitate a bout with Ennis.

“Obviously, once we win the two belts the focus is to try and win the rest of them,” Hearn said. “But we also understand the Ortiz fight — I can’t go from telling you that the Ortiz fight is one of the best in boxing to just disregarding it. Xander defended his titles against Boots in what is really a voluntary, so we would be defending our titles against Ortiz in what would really be a voluntary.

“It’s not about, ‘Well, we want the better split.’ No, it’s a great fight. And I think it’s inevitable that you will see Boots against Ortiz. Ortiz is a phenomenal fighter. … You wanna then go win the other belts, so it’s a matter of fitting it all in. But you will only see Boots in big fights.”

Zayas, a native Puerto Rican from Sunrise, Florida, and Philadelphia’s Ennis will headline a card DAZN will stream to subscribers of its Ultimate plan ($49.99 monthly in the United States; £24.99 in the United Kingdom). The show is also available via DAZN Pay-Per-View to non-subscribers ($74.99 in the U.S.; £24.99 in the UK).