Jaron Ennis Will Move Up To 154 – What’s Next?

Originally posted on BoxingNews.com | Last updated Jun 13, 2025 9:59 AM ET

Jaron Ennis will move up to junior middleweight as we examine who he could face at the weight class.

Ennis is the unified welterweight champion, having knocked out Eimantas Stanionis in his previous fight to become the IBF, WBA and Ring Magazine Welterweight Champion. There had been a desire from Ennis’ camp for him to become undisputed at 147. However, a large obstacle in the way was the apparent reluctance of the other champions to face him.

Mario Barrios will box Manny Pacquiao in a defense of his WBC Welterweight Title. Meanwhile, Brian Norman Jr. also has a fight booked against Jin Sasaki. Ennis is much bigger than 147, with suggestions that he is a weight bully. He may now have outgrown the weight. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, recently confirmed that Ennis’ team felt he was not performing at his best, making it the right time for him to move up.

“Boots is moving up. Unfortunately after the Stanionis fight he had his team around him and the doctors, the tests, and what they’re basically saying is Boots is under-performing to his capabilities. You saw him on fight week, like it doesn’t take a genius to see it’s hard work [for him to make the weight], and the amazing thing is he did that to Stanionis at 50% of his physical capabilities,” Hearn said

Options

If he moves up to 154 pounds, there are several boxers he could face. Ennis was previously in talks with Virgil Ortiz Jr. However, he reportedly wanted the fight to take place at 147 rather than 154, making that impossible. Ortiz had recently moved up to 154 pounds after fainting during a previous failure to make weight at 147. Ortiz is the WBC Interim Junior Middleweight Champion, giving Ennis a chance to secure a title shot.

Equally, there is the opportunity to face the former WBO Junior Middleweight Champion Tim Tszyu. Tim recently lost his undefeated record when he came out second best to Sebastian Fundora. He would then lose his next fight after getting knocked out by the IBF Junior Middleweight Champion Bakhram Murtazaliev. Tim recently bounced back with a victory against Joey Spencer in his last fight, as he rematches Fundora next.

Fundora holds the WBC belt at 154, giving Ennis a potential chance to become a two-weight champ against the winner. Alternatively, there are other leading contenders in the 154-pound division, such as Erickson Lubin (ranked number 1 by IBF), Abass Baraou (ranked number 1 by WBA), Serhii Bohachuk (ranked number 1 by WBC), and Xander Zayas (ranked number 1 by WBO). Ennis has plenty to ponder moving forward.

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

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