Jaron Ennis: Are You Too Afraid to Move Up?

Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis posted on social media that 2025 will be a “tremendous” year for him. The 27-year-old is aiming for the welterweight titles to become undisputed champion.

Some believe Boots lacks the ambition, courage and sense of adventure to move up to 154 and 160 for bigger money fights.

(Photo credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)

Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) is still hoping to unify the 147 welterweight division, having turned down the opportunity to move up to 154 for bigger challenges against interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr.

147: A dead end?

Some boxing fans believe Boots lacks the courage and ambition to do more with his career. He prefers to play it safe, working tirelessly to achieve his goal of becoming undisputed champion in a dead division at welterweight.

It has to be frustrating for the promoter. Eddie Hearn because there are so many big names at 154, 160 and 168, and he could match Boots Ennis if he was willing to take risks in his career. Staying at 147 is a dead end for Boots, 27, and Hearn is more than anyone knows that.

Hearn could accommodate Boots in 2025 by setting him up for a welterweight unification fight, but no more.

Unless Hearn is willing to pay the other 147-pound champions a king’s ransom, they won’t fight Ennis because his chances of winning are slim. You better hold on to your seatbelts and milk them.

Boots’ recent dismal performance against Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9 may have destroyed what little ambition he still had left in his body, leaving the fighter averse to the risk we’re seeing now.

Hearn’s wasted efforts

Karen schooled Ennis for 12 rounds, outboxing, slugging and outthinking him in front of his fans. Afterwards, I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall to hear what Hearn had to say privately about his opinion of Boot’s performance. I seriously doubt Hearn will hire Boots again when his Matchroom contract ends because he’s not going anywhere.

There are so many big fights Hearn could take on Boots if he was brave and wanted to challenge himself by moving up to 154, 160, 168 and 175. He has the build to compete in all of those divisions, but he won’t. he. Something is holding him back.

I’d say the best Hearn can hope for with Ennis in 2025 is a miserable unification fight against WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis. That’s all. He puts him back together with Karen for a trilogy after that match.

2024 was a good year but 2025 will be a tremendous and blessed year for me! 2025 I’m in that mode! Can’t wait 👑🫶🏾 Keep that same energy!

– Boots (@JaronEnnis) January 2, 2025