Josh Kelly has been offered a fight against #4 Jaron Ennis in a WBO junior middleweight title eliminator to determine the mandatory challenger to newly crowned 154-lb champion Xander Zayas.
Secondsout broke the news of #3-ranked WBO contender Kelly (17-1-1, 9 KOs) being offered the fight against ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Josh Kelly Options
It’s questionable if Kelly, 31, will agree to take the risky fight, because he’s already in a good position to be selected for a world title shot against WBO champion Zayas. The offer from Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, of Matchroom, would have to be substantial to entice Kelly to put his #3 ranking at risk. If 2016 Olympian Kelly is offered life-changing money, he’d likely take it.
Although Zayas discussed wanting a unification fight against WBC 154-lb champion Sebastian Fundora or IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev next after capturing the vacant WBO title last Saturday night, it’s believed that he’ll sit on his belt, milk it, by taking winnable fights to make money.
Josh Kelly would be an obvious choice for Xander to choose for his first defense. Zayas’ promoters at Top Rank have guided him this far in his six-year professional career by steering him away from dangerous opposition and matching him against only beatable fighters. It’s difficult to imagine them changing their formula of matchmaking now that Xander has captured the WBO 154-lb title with his 12-round unanimous decision win over Jorge Garcia last Saturday.
Big Money for Kelly
Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) is moving up to 154 from 147. He’s not in a strong position to get a name opponent for his debut in the division in October or November. Hearn wants to get him into a position to fight for a world title as fast as possible. To do that, Eddie will need to dig deep and come up with the money to lure Kelly. He can’t be tight-fisted with his offers.
Some fans believe that was the reason that Boots couldn’t get the unification fights at 147 to become the undisputed champion. Hearn was Scrooge-like with his offers to the other belt-holders, causing them to turn up their noses and ignore him.
Last Updated on 07/28/2025
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