Jaron Ennis could be closing in on a world title shot at 154lbs just weeks after he made his return to the ring.
The 28-year-old from Philadelphia was back in action on October 11 when he stopped Portugal’s Uisma Lima in the opening round of their clash at the Xfinity Mobile Arena to capture the vacant WBA interim super-welterweight title.
‘Boots’ unified the WBA and IBF world welterweight titles with a stoppage victory over Lithuania’s Eimantas Stanionis back in April, but his reign came to an end when he opted to vacate the belts ahead of his move up to 154lbs.
Whilst it has been reported that Ennis is set to face unbeaten WBC interim super-welterweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr next, the 28-year-old could actually be given the opportunity to fight for a world title instead.
As revealed by promoter Eddie Hearn in a recent interview with The Ring Magazine, ‘Boots’ could be in line to face the winner of the upcoming IBF super-welterweight showdown between defending champion Bakhram Murtazaliev and Britain’s Josh Kelly, should his planned match-up with Ortiz fall through.
“You always want to win a world title, but the fact is that the best fight that could be made in the 154-pound division is Boots versus Vergil Ortiz. I just hope Vergil and his team truly want that fight, because that is, for me, the best fight in the division. If we can’t get the fight, of course, we will target the winner of Murtazaliev-Kelly.”
A clash between Ennis and Ortiz is expected to take place in the first few months of 2026, although this will be dependent on the result of Ortiz’s upcoming bout against Erickson Lubin, which is set to take place at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth this Saturday night.
