Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is playing a dangerous game

When an awesome, unbeaten American began hitting the webpages of Sky Sports in 2020, it raised questions from inquisitive friends and family back home in London, curious if I knew much about him.

He was a bad man, even back then, and in the middle of a red-hot knockout run worth reporting to U.K. audiences.

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Not many non-British athletes in combat sports — and non-championship ones at that — would’ve received the type of coverage Jaron “Boots” Ennis received at that time. But it was a testament to the potential Ennis had, the potential to perhaps emulate modern-day and internationally known welterweight greats like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya.

In the years since, Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) has earned widespread acclaim for his jab, ability to switch-hit and put together bruising combinations. His ring-walk drip is as flamboyant and eye-catching as his extraordinary pivot, instinctive head movement and Philly Shell. He has retained his undefeated professional record while continuing to tally knockouts.

But there’s one thing missing.

Even at 28 years old, five years removed from the time Ennis piqued my dad’s curiosity after seeing him on Sky, the IBF welterweight champion still lacks the legacy-defining fights that set Mayweather and De La Hoya apart for so long.

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To make matters worse, he took on a pointless, IBF-mandated rematch in 2024 against Karen Chukhadzhian, whom he had already outpointed handily 22 months prior, and delivered only a so-so performance in the do-over.

Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, was already considering him moving to super welterweight. “Maybe it’s time to move [up],” Hearn told Uncrowned this past November.

Ennis didn’t disagree that fights at 154 pounds were more enticing, on paper, when considering the abundance of quality fighters like Sebastian Fundora, Serhii Bohachuk, Bakhram Murtazaliev, Israil Madrimov and Vergil Ortiz Jr., among others. “I ain’t gonna lie,” Ennis told Uncrowned in November, “154 [pounds] is popping. Everybody at 154 right now. But let me handle business at 147. I’ll be there soon.”

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The fighter, hell-bent on remaining at 147 pounds, then rejected the chance to box Ortiz at 154 pounds on one of the year’s biggest cards in what would have been the most significant fight of his career, so he could instead try to unify the world titles at welterweight — and possibly become the undisputed champion.

Backlash followed from fans and media, as Boots was perceived to have ducked Ortiz.

Suddenly, the boogeyman of the division in the post Spence vs Crawford era had lost his boogey.

I put this to Ortiz when visiting him in Riverside, California, earlier this year. “A lot of people don’t really know what’s going on in the background,” he told Uncrowned.

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“And I say this as an athlete that’s been on the other side,” Ortiz said, referencing his own illnesses, which have led to withdrawals and bout cancellations. “There were times where I was having trouble going up the stairs … my body was giving up on me, and people thought I was bulls****ing.”

Ortiz, loath to call Ennis a duck, said it’s a fight that could still happen down the line, providing Ennis does what he’s set out to do now that he’s committed to remaining at welterweight — unify the division and become the undisputed champion.

But therein lies the dangerous game.

Should Boots deliver another lackadaisical performance when he squares off with WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis inside Atlantic City’s famed Boardwalk Hall on Saturday in his first unification fight, or should he win but go on to struggle in his quest to claim all of the major welterweight belts, he’ll lose out on prime years in which his body may have been better suited to heading straight to super welterweight.

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Just as Ennis loses a little of his boogey, there is also a new monster at welterweight in Brian Norman, who is riding the momentum of strong back-to-back victories over Giovani Santillan and Derrieck Cuevas over the past 12 months. Ennis becoming undisputed champion, at a weight he may struggle to continue to cut to for another year, is no longer a foregone conclusion when those around him were already encouraging him to move up.

Legacy-defining fights often require career-making opponents, rather than the belts that may or may not accompany those bouts. For Ennis, the opponents who will help define his career are not at 147 pounds, even if there are world titles to be collected there.

Ortiz, though, disagrees. “If he becomes undisputed, our fight can be a bigger fight,” Ortiz told Uncrowned. “I’m not a hater at all. I wish everyone success … just not against me.”

Ennis vs. Stanionis airs on DAZN starting at 8 p.m. ET. Catch full results, highlights and round-by-round coverage of the main card on Uncrowned.