Ennis Moves To Junior Middleweight: Can ‘Boots’ Prove Doubters Wrong After Lackluster Welterweight Run?

Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis made it official today that he’s moving up to 154, predicting he’s going to become a “2X weight champion.” Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) says he wants all the smoke at junior middleweight, but didn’t mention any names.

Ennis Moves to 154

Fans are hoping he does a better job of picking the talented opposition at 154 because his resume at 147 is empty of names. He didn’t fight Brian Norman Jr. and Teofimo Lopez before leaving the welterweight division. Some felt that he ducked those two.

Hearn’s Fight Strategy

Boots’ promoter Eddie Hearn said he’ll take a tune-up first at 154 against a “world-class gatekeeper” before looking to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. in 2026 in a “massive” fight. People would prefer that Ennis fight a top-tier level fighter rather than a tomato can, like many of the fighters he’s fought during his nine-year pro career.

With Terence Crawford moving up to 168 to fight to challenge Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship, Jaron could go after the WBA title once it’s vacated or stripped from Crawford for abandoning it. Ennis would battle WBA interim 154-lb champion Yoenis Tellez for the vacant belt. That’s who his promoter, Eddie Hearn, should be targeting when he moves up in weight in August.

Boots’ Welterweight Criticisms

Jaron hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire with his recent fights against Karen Chukhadzhian x 2, Eimantas Stanionis, David Avanesyan, and Roiman Villa in the last two years.

Jaron Ennis’s 154 Options

– Bakhram Murtazaliev
– Sebastian Fundora
– Tim Tszyu
– Erickson Lubin
– Vergil Ortiz Jr.
– Jermell Charlo
– Yoenis Tellez
– Xander Zayas
– Keith Thurman
– Jesus Ramos
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Jorge Garcia Perez
– Israil Madrimov
– Charles Conwell

Ennis’s Career Proving Ground

Ennis has got a lot of proving to do when he does move up because boxing fans got tired of waiting for him to take on the killers at 147. They’d heard about how great Boots is, but then he turns around and fights Karen Chukhadzhian twice, Avanesyan, and Stanionis.

ITS TIME! 154😈 YALL SAID THIS WHERE THE SMOKE AT RIGHT!? LETS HAVE IT THEN! 🙃 2X WEIGHT DIVISION CHAMP• 4X TIME WORLD CHAMP LOADING! pic.twitter.com/lhMqP5ryJc

— Boots (@JaronEnnis) June 18, 2025