Promoter Eddie Hearn says Jaron “Boots” Ennis’ ideal weight is “160” instead of 154. He claims that Ennis (34-0, 30 KO) could move up to middleweight now and would be in great shape.
Ennis will make his debut at 154 next Saturday, October 11, against Uisma Lima (14-1, 10 KO) at the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Former IBF and WBA welterweight champion Ennis was forced to move up from 147 pounds because he was making diminishing returns after spending his entire career at that weight.
Hearn determines Ennis’ true importance
If Ennis moves up to middleweight now, he would be able to fight these fighters:
Terence Crawford
Carlos Adames: WBC champion
Erislandy Lara: WBA
Janibek Alimkhanuly: IBF and WBO
“I think the ideal weight for Boots is 160. I think he could go there now and be in great shape,” said promoter Eddie Hearn media today on Jaron “Boots” Ennis still hasn’t reached his ideal weight, going from 147 to 154. “He’ll be tight at 154 tomorrow [at the weigh-in]”
From the sight of “Boots” Ennis this week, it is clear that 154 pounds is not the optimal weight class for him. He won’t be at his best fighting at junior middleweight because he’s too large for that division as well.
Why 160 fits the “shoes” better than 154
“People think that when you gain weight, suddenly everything becomes basic,” Hearn said. “He’s huge. He’ll 100% get to 168 at some point. So we have a four-division championship. I don’t want him to just be a four-division champion.”
Ennis should have fought at middleweight years ago instead of exhausting himself to the point where he looked like a zombie. Moving up to 154 pounds has been a long overdue move, but this is not where he should be. She’s now approaching 29 and gaining weight.
A long road to the undisputed position of 154
Hearn says he wants to become undisputed at 154 before moving up to 160 pounds. This isn’t a good idea considering it could take Ennis at least two years to achieve this.
If Hearn is trying to get ‘Boots’ to follow in Terence Crawford’s footsteps and become the undisputed three-division champion, it’s a waste of time. It wasn’t basic for Crawford because the lanes were already rounded up at 147 and 168.
If he had to win them individually, he would probably run out of time or be defeated. Trying to take on titles held by Osleys Iglesias or Christian Mbilla would likely be too much for the 38-year-old Crawford. Ennis should forget about investing time in becoming undisputed at 154 pounds and instead focus on moving up to 160 pounds to get the biggest fights in that weight class.
At 160 pounds, “Boots” would be in Crawford’s orbit and could put pressure on him to fight. Even if this fight doesn’t happen, he will be able to go after the champions and lure fighters from the 154th weight class to the 160th weight class to fight him.
“I want him to be undisputed in them because I think he is the natural successor to Terence Crawford. I think he has the same ability as Crawford because he was undisputed in three weight classes,” Hearn said.
How Ennis compares to teenage Crawford
Ennis’ fighting style is much more fan-friendly than Crawford’s, as he is a more frontal fighter who attacks his opponents. Crawford was always a counter-attacker who waited passively like a spider. He moved a lot when he was younger and now that he’s approaching 40, he still moves a lot.
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Oleksandr Usyk has shared his reaction to Anthony Joshua‘s dramatic knockout victory against Kristian Prenga.
Usyk nearly suffered his own shock defeat in May when he was pushed to the limit by kickboxing star Rico Verhoevenand two months on it was nrw teammate Joshua’s turn to come close to a massive upset loss that would have stunned the heavyweight division.
The Brit was dropped twice by massive underdog Prenga in the opening round of their clash in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, but ‘AJ’ managed to recover and record a big knockdown of his own in the second round that resulted in the stoppage victory.
Joshua and Usyk now train together, having famously had two battles for the unified world heavyweight title in 2021 and 2022, and the Ukrainian has had his say on his stablemate’s victory over Prenga.
Speaking to TalkSporttwo-time undisputed champion Usyk praised Joshua, insisting ‘AJ is back’ before predicting that Joshua will now claim a knockout win over long-term rival Tyson Fury in his next bout.
“Anthony Joshua is next undisputed champion. First round it’s a test but AJ is back.
It’s boxing, [the] big upper cut is good, it’s a knockdown. AJ [come] back and win.
“Greedy Belly [Fury] will speak now and say weak chin, Greedy Belly get out. AJ wins [against Fury], [he will] knock him out.”
Fury was victorious on Friday as he earned a seventh round retirement win against Mariusz Wach in Thailand, paving the way for the showdown against Joshua later this year.
Jake Paul was the last man to fight Anthony Joshua and he has now revealed his verdict on AJ’s chaotic victory over Kristian Prenga.
Joshua went up against Prenga in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturdayin a clash that was expected to be a comfortable win for the former world heavyweight champion in order to set up the long overdue battle against Tyson Fury.
Any hopes of seeing that clash were nearly ended after AJ was dropped twice in the opening round of the bout, though he was able to recover and claim the second round knockout to come out on top and prevent a stunning shock upset from taking place.
Saturday’s outing saw Joshua back in the ring for the first time since his sixth round triumph over YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul back in Decemberand now ‘The Problem Child’ himself has shared his reaction to his former rival’s victory over Prenga.
Posting on social mediaPaul praised AJ for earning the win, after returning to action following the tragic car crash he was involved in at the end of last year which took the lives of his two close friends.
“Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through. Remembering Sina and Latz with this one.”
Happy for Joshua with that win after all he’s been through.
Remembering Sina and Latz with this one.
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) July 25, 2026
The win for Joshua should now tee up for meeting with Fury later this year, after ‘The Gypsy King’ held up his end of the bargain by also securing a win in his warm-up bout on Friday, securing a seventh round retirement win against Mariusz Wach.
Anthony Joshua may have earned a knockout win over Kristian Prenga but the fight certainly didn’t unfold as most people expected.
Joshua was facing the Albanian in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Saturday, and it looked like a massive upset could be on the cards when he was dropped twice in the opening round.
‘AJ’ was able to recover and went on to secure a second round knockout victory to prevent the shock lossseemingly paving the way for the battle against Tyson Fury later this year.
One man who was ringside to witness the battle was former cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellewand he praised Joshua’s ability to turn things around in the fight after describing it as ‘chaos’.
“We predicted round two but I don’t think we foresaw that. That was chaos. He doesn’t see the uppercut coming and finds himself on the floor without knowing how he got there.
“The second one he did see it coming and he was able to clench down on the jaw. He got up and then the experience that he has he used tonight because he tied him up. Against Andy Ruiz he didn’t know what he was doing and didn’t know how to do that, but tonight he did.
“He showed once again there is no quit. To be that hurt in the first round and get up, that’s the recoveries of power. People talk about your chin, but it’s not, it’s the level of fitness that gets you up from the floor.
“When Joshua gets a fighter hurt he’s the best finisher in the division. Whenever he hurts someone they’re gone. I haven’t seen him drop anybody and they survive, only Andy Ruiz. He’s a ruthless finisher.”
The clash between Joshua and Fury is now expected to be announced soon for later this year, after Fury won his own interim fight on Friday by defeating Mariusz Wach.
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