Chad Johnson Jokingly Calls Out Jaron Ennis After Dominant 154-Pound Debut

Since retiring from the NFL, Johnson has dipped his toes into the boxing world. 'Ochocinco' actively trains whenever he can fit sessions in and has fought once, competing in an exhibition bout against bare-knuckle boxer Brian Maxwell on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather vs. Logan Paul.

Johnson posed the callout as a joke, but he has full faith in his boxing skills. He previously went viral for getting mad at his podcast co-host, Shannon Sharpe, for not believing that he would be competitive against former UFC champion Max Holloway.

Johnson's reaction was unanimously mocked by fans, as it came shortly after the Hawaiian brutally knocked out Justin Gaethje at UFC 300. That viral clip alone gives credence to the idea that Johnson likely believes he would be competitive in a fight with Ennis, but he clearly has a lot of respect and admiration for 'Boots.'

What is next for Jaron 'Boots' Ennis?

After blowing past Lima, Ennis' next fight will not be against Johnson, but it will be against another high-level opponent. Fans are already prepared to see him in a 154-pound title fight, which is likely in his future.

Without any lingering concerns about the weight change, Ennis is well within play for all super welterweight titleholders. Fans were immediately drawn to a potential matchup with WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz Jr., but Ennis has no shortage of options for his next fight.

With the exception of Sebastian Fundora, whose title defense against Keith Thurman was recently postponed due to injury, all of the divisional champions remain unbooked. Ortiz is the biggest name of the group, but Bakhram Murtazaliev and Abas Baraou are also still looking for their next opponents.

By beating Lima, Ennis became the WBC interim super welterweight champion. That would ideally set him up for a title unification bout with Baraou, who was recently promoted to full champion after Terence Crawford vacated the belt to fight Canelo Alvarez.

Yet, boxing fans know that such concepts are never black and white.