Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis has been linked to a host of names throughout 2026, but it seems as though the Philly star now has a clear plan for his next two fights.
Ennis was elevated to IBF welterweight world champion when Terence Crawford vacated the belt in 2023, before unifying with a knockout win over WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis and then moving up to super-welterweight.
On his 154lb debut, Ennis dispatched of Uisma Lima inside a round, teeing up a grudge match with Vergil Ortiz Jr which was then cancelled due to a dispute between Ortiz and Golden Boy Promotions.
Instead, Ennis proceeded with a challenge for Xander Zayas’ unified WBA and WBO super-welterweight belts and he knocked the previously undefeated Puerto Rican out in a dominant display.
Now, despite rumours that Ennis could revisit plans to take on Ortiz, his promoter Eddie Hearn has told The Punch Podcast that ‘Boots’ is instead pursuing the undisputed crown, prioritising a fight with IBF titleholder Josh Kelly, and then WBC champion Sebastian Fundora.
“I think that Boots will probably fight Josh Kelly next for the three belts, then the winner will fight Fundora and we’ve got one undisputed champion.”
Hearn said that he is not ruling a clash with Ortiz out for later down the line, labelling it as a ‘wonderful fight’.
“Boots is about legacy and belts. Listen, I like the Vergil Ortiz fight, I don’t want to rule that out either by the way, but previously we didn’t have a belt and that fight was no belts, but we couldn’t get the champions.
“Then, when we couldn’t get the Vergil fight, the Xander Zayas fight kind of slotted into place and that was like magic for us, to get that shot. Now, he has those two belts, the natural thing to do is to try and win all of the belts.
“I think that the Ortiz fight is a wonderful fight and I think that we have to try and get that made, but certainly his focus, right now, is to try and be undisputed.”
Whilst Ennis-Kelly looks likely for either December or early 2027, Fundora is set for an October defence of his WBC super-welterweight strap against mandatory challenger, Ermal Hadribeaj, who could take his place in an undisputed title bout against either Ennis or Kelly if able to pull off the upset.
