Jaron Ennis Doubles Down on ‘First Choice’ for His Next Fight

Since knocking off Xander Zayas to become the unified junior middleweight world champion, Jaron 'Boots' Ennis has had his sights locked on who he wants his first title defense to be against.

With Vergil Ortiz Jr. back in the mix, many expected an Ennis-Ortiz title fight in the near future. However, according to Ennis' promoter, Eddie Hearn, the WBA and WBO titleholder has another name in mind.

Jaron Ennis still keen to fight Sebastian Fundora next

"I had a call with 'Boots' today," Hearn said via FightHype. "His absolute first choice is to fight Sebastian Fundora. He thinks that's a great fight. Fundora has the WBC championship, which 'Boots' would love to win."

Hearn's statement aligns with that of Ennis' father and head trainer, Bozy Ennis, before the Zayas title fight. Bozy Ennis revealed that his team viewed Fundora as the No. 1 154-pound fighter in the world following his sixth-round TKO win over Keith Thurman in March.

Ennis has made it clear that his goal is to become undisputed at 154 pounds, and Fundora owns one of the two belts outside of his possession. That leaves Ortiz, the WBC interim junior middleweight champion, without much leverage in negotiations.

With his recent win over Zayas, Ennis now unofficially holds all the cards at junior middleweight. He is the only unified champion in the weight class and is ranked No. 1 in the division by Ring Magazine and ESPN.

Eddie Hearn provides update on Vergil Ortiz Jr negotiations

Despite Ortiz's lack of a full world title, Hearn and Ennis have both admitted they are still considering the matchup. However, Hearn's comments continue to suggest that they are not close to an agreement.

The Matchroom Boxing promoter said that the fight was recently agreed upon before Ortiz and Golden Boy Promotions attempted to renegotiate. Hearn also said he wanted to change the terms of the deal after Ennis' win over Zayas, saying "yesterday's price isn't today's price."

In his latest update, Hearn said Ortiz's team would not agree to the fight unless their fighter was the "A-side," despite Ennis owning two world titles. Meanwhile, Ortiz's manager seemed confident the fight would materialize.

'Boots' and Ortiz still appear to be on a collision course ending in an eventual fight, but the skies only get cloudier by the day. Either way, Ennis appears to be headed toward another massive title fight next, regardless of opponent.

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