Jaron Ennis is no longer the IBF champion as confirmed by the organization itself during the latest update of their official rating boards. With the title vacated, Ennis closes a chapter to a controversial yet significant tenure as a world champion after being elevated to the position under dubious circumstances. The decision follows reports confirming Ennis’ plans to move up to super welterweight.
Jaron Ennis (34-0, 30 KO’s) obtained the IBF welterweight (147 lbs) title after then-undisputed champion Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KO’s) was stripped of the title by the IBF — due to a rematch planned with Errol Spence Jr — in 2023. Ennis, then in possession of the IBF interim title, was immediately elevated to the position of world champion.
The incident came under much scrutiny and mirrored a past incident where Tyson Fury was stripped of the IBF title due to a contractual rematch in place with Ukrainian legend Wladimir Klitschko that prevented Fury from facing heavyweight (200+ lbs) mandatory challenger Vyacheslav Glazkov.
Former Ukrainian undisputed heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk faced similar circumstances for not facing then-IBF interim champion Filip Hrgovic for roughly two years but was allowed to hold the title during his undisputed match against Tyson Fury, despite a mandatory defense being long overdue. Hrgovic eventually lost the interim title to Daniel Dubois who would later be elevated to full world champion after Usyk vacated the belt.
Jaron Ennis went on to defend his IBF title a total of three times, further becoming a unified champion after defeating Lithuanian WBA 147 lbs champion Eimantas Stanionis in April of this year.
With Ennis’ recent move up to super welterweight likely spurring the IBF’s decision to remove him as champion, the most likely candidate to vie for the vacant welterweight title is #1 IBF 147 lbs contender Lewis Crocker (21-0, 11 KO’s) from the UK. With the #2 spot vacant, #3-rated Irish contender Paddy Donovan (14-1, 11 KO’s) would have qualified as a candidate but is coming off a disqualification loss against Crocker in March.
As such, #4-rated Mexican contender Raul Curiel (16-0-1, 14 KO’s) could potentially find himself in the position to fight for the vacant title against Crocker in the near future.
Ennis is currently still in possession of the WBA “super” welterweight title
