Boots Ennis: A Rising Star's Battles Between Missed Chances and Dreams of Unification

By Miriam Onyango

Jaron "Boots" Ennis expects that his promoter, Eddie Hearn, will eventually set him up for unification bouts against the other three champions, which is why he chose to stay at 147 instead of going up to 154 to face WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz Jr.

His Excellency According to Turki Alalshikh, he tried but was unable to link the fight between Vergil Ortiz and Ennis. Boots "Changed his mind," he claims. When Ennis returns to the ring in the first half of 2025, Hearn has not disclosed who he would face next, but it won't be against any of the 147 champions. In a bout that few people are interested in watching, Ennis will ultimately have to defend his title once more against a contender.

In April or May 2025, it wouldn't be shocking if Boots Ennis faced one of these fighters in his upcoming defense: Lewis Crocker, Pat McCormack, Ekow Essuman, and Paddy Donovan Demetrius Andrade, a former Hearn fighter who faced unimpressive opponents throughout his three bouts with Matchroom, appears to be on the same path as Boots. Ennis' contract with Hearn is unlikely to be extended when it expires.

Fans won't be interested in those bouts, but Hearn wouldn't need to pay much to persuade any of those guys to take on Boots. If Hearn tried to arrange a unification bout for Ennis at 147, it would be a different story because the champions would demand a large sum of money because of the great risk involved in such a battle.

After deciding not to advance to fight Ortiz (22-0, 21 KOs) on the February 22nd card, Ennis' popularity is at an all-time low.

Hearn is someone to avoid in the welterweight class, therefore it doesn't appear likely that Boots (33-0, 29 KOs) will be able to provide him with any unification contests. Ennis lacks personality, is unpopular, and isn't facing the kind of resistance that would make him more well-known.

“Hearn said he’s no longer going to fight in February. He’s going to have to be pushed into April or into May. That doesn’t make any sense. It’s not like he would be moving up to fight this career-long junior middleweight [Vergil Jr]. He would be moving up to fight a former 147-pounder that he’s been talking about fighting anyway,” said Chris Mannix on his you tube channel.

“He’s [Ortiz Jr] not looked infallible. He beat Serhii Bohachuk but got dropped twice in that fight. If you made Vergil against Boots, I’d favor Boots. Not by a ton, but I’d favor him early on in that fight. It looks like a duck,” said Chris Mannix.

Boots is unlikely to defeat Vergil Jr. He resisted the thought of going up to 154 to challenge Vergil Jr. because he clearly knows that himself.