Promoter Eddie Hearn says unified welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is “moving up” to 154. The decision was made after his team conducted tests that determined that Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) was underperforming due to his struggles to make weight for the 147-lb division. He’d outgrown the division.
Hearn says Ennis will fight in August or September, and he’s open to making a fight between him and WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. If not him, it’ll be someone else that Boots fights in his debut at 154.
Boots Ennis: 154-Pound Move
Hearn says Ennis was only “50%” for his unification fight against WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis on April 12th. He believes that with Jaron moving up to 154, he’ll be 100%, and fans will be able to see how much better he is at full strength.
“Boots is moving up. Unfortunately, after the Stanionis fight, he had his team around him, the doctors, the tests, and what they’re basically saying is Boots is underperforming to his capabilities,” said Eddie Hearn to Fighthype. “You saw him on fight week. It takes hard work [to make 147].”
Boxing fans have noted for a while now that Ennis has looked emaciated making weight, and they’ve wanted him to move up to 154 to take on the bigger name. Also, the welterweight division is lacking big names. The champions at 147 that Boots needs to fight to complete his goal of becoming undisputed would likely demand a substantial amount of money, and it’s not worth it.
“The amazing thing is, he did that to Stanionis at 50% of his physical capabilities,” said Hearn. “What he’s saying and what his team is saying. Sooner or later, I’m not saying you’re going to get a Keyshawn moment, but you could underperform in the ring, have a nightmare weight cut, and it’s just going to catch up to you.”
Hearn sounds pleased that Ennis is planning on moving up in weight. It’s pointless for Boots to stay at 147 to continue killing himself to make weight, because he’s likely to be prevented from fighting for the WBC title against the winner of the Mario Barrios vs. Manny Pacquiao fight. Whoever emerges as the winner of that fight will avoid Ennis and focus on defending it against fighters like Devin Haney, Ryan Garcia, or Conor Benn.
“I love the Teo fight, and so did Boots. But it was like, ‘Can I perform to the best of my abilities at 147,” said Hearn. “The answer is, ‘I can probably perform good enough to win, but not to the best of my abilities.’ So, when you see Boots at 154, you’re going to see what I’m talking about.”
That sounds like Ennis was worried about losing to Teofimo. That’s surprising because the way he performed against Stanionis last April, that would be more than enough for him to defeat Lopez. Even that drained version of Ennis would be too much for Teofimo.
“So, it’s very likely those belts [IBF and WBA welterweight] are going to be vacated,” Hearn said. “We’re going to meet this week and make a final decision. But yeah, it’s time to move to 154, and he’s been unified at 147 now. It’s time to try to become a two-division world champion.”
If Boots doesn’t vacate his IBF and WBA welterweight titles, he’s going to wish he did later, because as I mentioned, he won’t get the opportunity to fight for the last two remaining belts. The popular fighters, Haney and Ryan Garcia, won’t fight him. They know they’d lose.
“They said, ‘Would you fight Vergil Ortiz in August? ‘ And we said, ‘Yes.’ And then they came back and said, ‘Vergil wasn’t ready for August.’ I said, ‘We’re happy. That’s one of the best in the sport, and Vergil is a great fighter.’ We’re talking to DAZN at the moment. Boots will fight around August or September, and we’ll make the Vergil Ortiz fight now. I think it’s a brilliant fight at 154,” said Hearn.
If Ortiz Jr. isn’t ready to fight Ennis in August, he should go after IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev or WBC champ Sebastian Formella.
“We want to be involved in all the biggest fights. Obviously, he wants to win a world title, and there’s a good chance that Vergil may end up getting that championship. So, yeah, all in for all the big fights with a real physically 100% Boots Ennis, which is a frightening proposition, given the performance that he gave against Stanionis,” said Hearn.
Last Updated on 06/13/2025
Read the full article here