Jaron “Boots” Ennis has signed a seven-fight extension with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, MiddleEasy reported Tuesday. The new deal is built around one goal: becoming undisputed at 154 pounds.
Seven fights is a long runway in modern boxing, where plenty of champions treat a two-fight deal like a lifetime commitment. Hearn now has one of the sport’s most dangerous fighters tied up for the stretch that should define his career.
Ennis currently holds the WBA and WBO light middleweight titles, according to MMA Mania. The other two belts are spread across the division. Sebastian Fundora owns the WBC strap, Josh Kelly holds the IBF title and Vergil Ortiz carries the interim WBC belt, which is the kind of trinket that exists mostly to make sanctioning fees.
Kelly also renewed his promotional deal, per the same MiddleEasy report. That matters, because MMA Mania noted there have been talks of Ennis and Kelly fighting at the end of the year.
Fundora Made His Case Saturday
Then Fundora went and complicated the calendar. On Oct. 17 in Las Vegas, “The Towering Inferno” defended his WBC title against Albanian Ermal Hadribeaj, a very live opponent who had never lost. Fundora fixed that with a left hand that dropped Hadribeaj with one second left in the 12th and final round. Hadribeaj had been letting his hands go as early as Round 2, and the fight was competitive enough that DAZN was asking viewers who was up on their cards before the finish.
The win pushed Fundora’s streak to five, with four successful title defenses inside it. A buzzer-beating knockout on a DAZN and TNT broadcast also makes for a strong closing argument in any negotiation.
Fundora isn’t being shy about the fight he wants. At his post-fight press conference, he predicted knockout wins over both Ennis and Ortiz, MiddleEasy reported.
His promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, is already on to the business end. He’s calling for an equal purse split in any Ennis fight, arguing that the two champions need each other if either one wants to unify, according to MiddleEasy.
What’s Next
The sequencing comes down to Kelly. If the Ennis vs. Kelly talks turn into a signed fight for the end of the year, Fundora waits. If they stall, the WBC champion who just scored a last-second knockout is standing right there with a promoter who wants half.
My take: I like the extension, and I like Ennis making the long commitment in public instead of teasing it with a fire emoji. But seven fights only means something if a few of them are against the men holding the other belts. Kelly is the easier fight to make on paper, with both guys apparently staying in business with the same promoter. Fundora is the fight people will actually remember. Lewkowicz asking for 50-50 is an opening bid, and Hearn has never met an opening bid he didn’t counter. Get the Kelly fight done in December, then stop haggling and book the 6-foot-5 southpaw who just won a title fight with one second on the clock.
