Jaron “Boots” Ennis has announced he is moving up to super-welterweight, vacating the IBF and WBA welterweight titles in the process.
The unbeaten American, 27, has been one of the standouts at welterweight in recent years, especially with Terence Crawford leaving the division after becoming undisputed in July 2023, and Errol Spence Jr not having boxed since losing to Crawford that month.
Ennis long eyed a bout with Crawford, but the latter’s sole bout since beating Spence Jr took place at super-welterweight, where he collected the WBA title with a win over Israil Madrimov last August. And now, Crawford is preparing for a super-middleweight megafight with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, the undisputed champion.
With Ennis’s biggest welterweight fight having eluded him, he is set to emulate Crawford, 37, in moving up in weight. Or is he chasing the pound-for-pound star?
While Crawford is due to face Canelo at 167lb in September, it is possible that the American could return to 154lb thereafter. His bout with Madrimov saw him compete at a career-highest weight – which he will of course exceed against Canelo – as he stayed unbeaten and became a four-weight champion.
Yet whether or not Crawford’s future lies at 154lb, if he even fights again after facing Canelo, Boots is intent on becoming a two-weight champion.
“ITS TIME! 154,” Ennis wrote on Instagram on Wednesday (18 June). “YALL SAID THIS WHERE THE SMOKE AT RIGHT!?
“LETS HAVE IT THEN! 2X WEIGHT DIVISION CHAMP • 4X TIME WORLD CHAMP LOADING.”
Crawford still holds the WBA super-welterweight title, while Sebastian Fundora holds the WBC and WBO belts, and Bakhram Murtazaliev is the IBF champion.
Last time out, Ennis dropped and stopped Eimantas Stanionis in the sixth round in April, retaining the IBF welterweight strap and collecting the WBA version.
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