Jaron “Boots” Ennis could face Vergil Ortiz in the first quarter of 2026, as long as he achieves victory in his super welterweight debut this Saturday, according to promoter Eddie Hearn. Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs), 28 years old, will fight Uisma Lima (14-1, 10 KOs) in his first fight at 154 pounds at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, after having reached the top in the welterweight rankings. After his technical knockout victory in the sixth round over Eimantas Stanionis in April, Ennis seeks to deliver a great performance against Lima, from Angola and based in Portugal, in front of his home fans to propel himself towards bigger fights. Since the interim WBA title will be at stake, Saturday’s winner will advance to a shot at the WBA super welterweight world title against Abass Barou (17-1, 9 KOs), from Germany. Hearn aims for a bigger fight for “Boots” against Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs), who will defend the WBC interim super welterweight title against Erickson Lubin on November 8.
Hearn expects Ennis to improve at super welterweight and states that the Philadelphia boxer is willing to face any of the world champions in 2026. Ortiz, from Texas, and WBC super welterweight world champion Sebastian Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs), from California, hold the number 1 and 2 spots respectively in the most recent divisional rankings. Hearn believes that Ennis will only be passing through the super welterweight division and could even compete at super middleweight.We want the most important fights after Saturday, and for me the one that makes the most sense and the one that has been negotiated is Vergil Ortiz.
Eddie Hearn
Hearn added that Ennis “will be a different animal at 154 pounds” and that he believes that the middleweight is the division where he will look his best. The promoter considers “Boots” Ennis as the future number 1 pound-for-pound and the natural successor to Terence Crawford, and expects to see him face Ortiz, Murtazaliev, Zayas, and then move up to 160 pounds to fight boxers like Carlos Adames and Erislandy Lara. Hearn concluded by saying that what was seen at 147 pounds was a “worn-out, but still phenomenal” boxer, and that even at 154 pounds, Ennis will have to work hard to make weight.The most important thing is to get a shot at a 154-pound world title, and that could come from Xander Zayas, Bakhram Murtazaliev, Sebastian Fundora, WBA champion Abass Baraou or WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz.
Eddie Hearn
