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Ennis Wants To Be Undisputed From 147 To 168

Originally posted on BoxingNews.com | Last updated 10/17/24

Jaron Ennis has said that he wants to be undisputed in four weight classes, starting from 147 to 168 pounds.

Ennis is the current IBF Welterweight Champion who is struggling to make the biggest fights in the division. He recently signed a deal with Matchroom Boxing, designed to increase his global profile. He had his first fight under the promotion against David Avanesyan, stopping him in the fifth round to retain his title. The hope was to secure a big unification fight, as several names were linked. A fight against the WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios was mentioned. However, Barrios decided to go his own way, as he will box Abel Ramos on November 15 on the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson card.

Brian Norman Jr., who is the WBO Welterweight Champion, was then considered as the leading candidate. Reports indicated that Eddie Hearn sent $1.7 million as the highest offer. But Norman Jr.’s team allegedly wanted $2.2 million. The fee was never agreed, and negotiations broke down. Ennis will now box Karen Chukhadzhian, who is his IBF mandatory.

They already faced off last year as Ennis won a one-sided unanimous decision. This did not go down well with Hearn, who was looking to secure a unification. But Ennis knows that if he comes out with a dominant win, he can turn his attention towards a unification at some point next year. And Ennis has now said he aims to dominate from welterweight to super middleweight.

Ennis’ Aim

“I want to be undisputed at 147, 154, 160 and 168. I got stuff I want to do outside of boxing, too. There’s a lot of things I got going on and a lot of things I want to do, but I’m just focused on handling what I’ve got in front of me first,” Ennis said

Nevertheless, that is going to be a tough task. Boots is 27 years old, meaning that he is in the prime of his career. If he cannot secure the fights at welterweight, he only has so much time before he moves up to 154 pounds. The longer Ennis leaves it, the harder it will be to drop down to 147 since he is a naturally bigger welterweight. But fights at 154 pounds will not be easy. Ennis has been chasing Terence Crawford for some time. Boots was his IBF mandatory at 147. But since Crawford had a rematch with Errol Spence Jr., even if it broke down, the fight never got made.

Ennis’ Options

Crawford then moved up to 154, as Ennis became elevated from interim to full champion. Crawford has shown a reluctance to take the Ennis fight since it is a big risk. Boots has no belts, while Crawford is already a two-weight undisputed champion at 140 and 147. Crawford’s main aim is to secure a lucrative fight with Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight. The other fights at 154 pounds are very risky. Virgil Ortiz Jr. is a knockout artist who has stopped all his opponents, barring Serhii Bohachuk in his last fight.

Meanwhile, Tim Tszyu has only had one loss in his career. He fights for the IBF title this weekend against Bakhram Murtazaliev. That has left Ennis in a predicament as he must decide where he puts his focus. And there is a danger that he ends up being blackballed from the biggest fights unless he makes more concessions, something which Norman Jr.’s team hinted at since they wanted a bigger piece of the pie. And that has gotten fans talking.

This article first appeared on BoxingNews.com and was syndicated with permission.

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