Jaron Ennis will reportedly continue his career at welterweight after promoter Eddie Hearn indicated he would be moving up to super welterweight. Despite earlier claims of Ennis wishing to become undisputed at 147 pounds, it appears his goals have swiftly changed―alluded to be due to issues in safely making weight, prompting a rather odd yet likely beneficial move up to 154 pounds.
Earlier this year, it had been made clear that Jaron Ennis (34-0, 30 KO’s) would seek to take over the welterweight (147 lbs) division by fighting all the available champions after he refused a fight against WBC interim super welterweight (154 lbs) champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KO’s).
However, since that decision, things appear to have swiftly changed not long after Ennis’ road to undisputed saw him defeat WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis (15-1, 9 KO’s) to become the unified champion of the division, having held the IBF 147-pound title since 2023.
According to Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn, Jaron Ennis will be moving up with certainty due to medical advisors’ concerns of his struggles to make weight at 147 lbs:
“Boots [Jaron Ennis] is moving up,” Hearn asserted during an interview with FightHype.
“Unfortunately, after the Stanionis fight he had his team around him, the doctors, the tests, and what they’re saying is Boots is underperforming to his capabilities.
“What he and his team are saying is sooner or later, you can either underperform in the ring, have a nightmare weight cut and it’s going to catch up with you.“
Hearn implied that these circumstances prevented Jaron Ennis from accepting a recent callout from Teofimo Lopez to face him, though his revelation that Ennis’ team concluded it would be difficult to fight at 147 lbs shortly after the Stanionis fight, held earlier this year on April 12th.
Ironically, a move up to super welterweight would make Vergil Ortiz Jr. one of the most attractive options again given his hold over the WBC interim title and name recognition―though Ortiz is far from the only recognizable fighter Ennis could face in the 154-pound division.
Unlike the back-end of last year when the prospect of an Ennis-Ortiz fight seemed unfeasible, Ennis might be interested in facing the WBC interim champion sooner rather than later.
“I think Boots will fight around August time. August or early September, and then we’ll make the Vergil Ortiz fight,” Hearn said.
“I think it’s a brilliant fight at [154 lbs]. We want to be involved in all the biggest fights. Obviously he wants a world title, and there’s a good chance Vergil may end up getting that championship.“
Regardless of who Ennis might face next, the undefeated 27-year old will be forced to relinquish both his WBA and IBF welterweight titles if he decides to move up towards 154 lbs.