Boots Ennis Prepares To Raid Josh Kelly For The IBF Title

Eddie Hearn mentioned matching them prior to Kelly’s July 25 defense against Caoimhin Agyarko. His comments came last month, rather than being a new development surrounding the fight.

“There’s a very good chance that Josh Kelly will fight Boots in November,” Hearn told iFL TV in July. “In America. Not Newcastle.”

The British challenger took care of his end by defeating Agyarko, leaving Matchroom with an in-house three-belt unification that makes plenty of sense for Ennis.

The attraction for Boots is obvious. He can pick up the IBF title in one fight and move within a single belt of becoming undisputed champion at 154 pounds.

This matchup also gives Matchroom a marketable opponent without requiring Ennis to wait for another promoter to cooperate. Hearn controls the pieces and has already floated bringing Kelly to America for the fight.

The bigger question is how competitive the contest would be.

While the British titleholder possesses sharp movement along with solid experience to make Boots work, Ennis brings superior speed, heavy power, and deep offensive variety. Kelly would likely need to produce the best performance of his career to keep Ennis from eventually taking control.

That doesn’t make the fight unappealing. Boots needs meaningful fights in the weight class, and collecting another world title is considerably more useful than taking a stay-busy defense while waiting for the division’s remaining belt.

If Hearn still intends to make the fight late this year, the path remains clear. Kelly gives Ennis his cleanest route to owning three of the four belts at 154 pounds.