Boot Ennis Considers 154-Pound Move Amid Roadblocks to Welterweight Unification

Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ promoter Eddie Hearn says he may move up to 154 for his next fight if he can’t get a match to unify either champion at 147.

(Source: Melina Pizano/Game Room)

While Hearn feels optimistic about his chances against one of the welterweight champions, Mario Barrios, Eimantas Stanionis, or Brian Norman Jr., that may be wishful thinking.

Welterweight Unification: Impossible for Ennis

Those guys would make more money hanging on to their titles as long as possible than fighting a tiebreaker against Boots (32-0, 29 KOs), where they would be clear underdogs with little hope of winning.

If Hearn comes empty-handed at 147 in Boots, his full fight at 154 will be against undefeated Golden Boy-promoted Vergil Ortiz Jr. (21-0, 21 KOs). He fights for DAZN and could soon capture the WBC interim junior middleweight title if he knocks out Serhii Bohachuk in their fight on August 10 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel in Las Vegas.

Boot, 27, looked huge last Saturday night when he defended his title against David Avanesyan at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Ennis has enough size to move up to 154 easily to take the WBC interim title from Vergil or another champion in the weight class.

154-Pound Prospects: Deep Talent Pool

There are also many talented competitors at 154 for Boot Ennis to fight, such as one of these fighters:

– Xander Zayas
– Erickson Lubin
– Tim Tszyu
– Errol Spence
– Josh Kelly
– Jesus Ramos
– Magomed Kurbanov
– Charles Conwell

The number of talented fighters available for Boot Ennis to fight at 154 is endless, and he could put himself in pressure fights for years, increasing his popularity even more than if he stayed at 147.

“Unification battles will be difficult [at 147] on Boot Ennis, but what about fighting at 154?” said Chris Mannix on DAZN Boxing about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ next fight options. “Vergil Ortiz is back on DAZN on August 10 [against WBC interim junior middleweight champion Serhii Bohachuk].”

Golden Boy’s Protectionism

Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya is a smart judge of talent, and he will know that Vergil Ortiz Jr. he’ll be in over his head fighting Boot Ennis. There’s no way De La Hoya would throw Vergil Jr. with this shark and watch him being devoured whole.

De La Hoya knows what he has in Vergil, and will want to protect him against the likes of Boot Ennis, Terence Crawford, and Israel Madrimov at 154.

In fact, if Boots were to move up to 154, his best fight choices would be against Bohachuk, WBC/WBO champion Sebastian Fundora, Tim Tszyu, and Lubin. Fighters like Vergil and Errol Spence probably want nothing to do with him.

“I’ve spent years talking about Vergil’s fight against Boots,” Mannix said. -welterweight, they are ready to move up to junior middleweight,” continued Mannix.

If De La Hoya wanted Vergil Ortiz to fight Boot Ennis, he would have done it years ago instead of matching him with a soft team to build a plastic 21-0 record full of bad. De La Hoya has done an excellent job of matching Vergil, but it’s clear that he’s been driven by Boots throughout the years, and that will continue at 154.

“Vergil against Boots, that’s a fight you can’t miss at any weight class,” said an optimistic Mannix.

Turki Alalshikh has a very good relationship with Terence Crawford. He has talked about this war in the past [against Boots Ennis]. If he comes to the table and says, ‘I’ve got the money to make Terence Crawford face Boots Ennis, either in Riyadh or in the US,’ that’s a possible fight.”

That’s another fight Boot Ennis won’t get in the future. Crawford won’t fight young killer Bots Ennis until he gets Canelo Alvarez’s payday in 2025.

That’s a silver tuna that Crawford is shooting for, and he’s not going to fight a serious fight and he might lose against Ennis until he gets that fight.

“Money talks in this business. So, I think it’s useful,” said Mannix. “If it’s not Bud Crawford’s fight, you have to look at other welterweight champions. Mario Barrios and Eimantis Stanionis both of those guys are under PBC. There has been talk of an unification fight between the two, but none yet. “

None of these battles are real in Boot Ennis. Norman is set to fight Teofimo Lopez with Top Rank, and they won’t let a fighter promoted by Eddie Hearn like Boot Ennis take the WBO 147-lb title away from Norman Jr. because they can make money with him and Teofimo.

“Brian Norman Jr., who is the interim WBO champion, will be promoted at some point. [to full WBO welterweight champion due to Crawford having moved up to 154]. There has been a lot of talk about Norman fighting Teofimo Lopez later this year,” said Mannix.