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Philly champ Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis signs with Matchroom Boxing, plans to fight this summer

The IBF welterweight champion signed a multi-fight deal with the promoter. Ennis is 31-0 with 28 knockouts.

Philadelphia boxer Jaron "Boots" Ennis before he defended his interim IBF welterweight title with a knockout of Roiman Villa on July 8.
Philadelphia boxer Jaron "Boots" Ennis before he defended his interim IBF welterweight title with a knockout of Roiman Villa on July 8.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer
    by Matt Breen
    Published 

Jaron “Boots” Ennis, Philadelphia’s only current boxing champion, will return to the ring following a nearly 12-month layoff this summer after signing Wednesday with one of the sport’s biggest power brokers.

Ennis (31-0, 28 knockouts) signed a “multi-fight promotional deal” with Matchroom Boxing, the British-based outfit owned by Eddie Hearn that also promotes heavyweight Anthony Joshua. The 26-year-old from Mount Airy has not fought since last July. He won the IBF’s interim welterweight title in January 2023 and the interim label was removed in November after Terrence Crawford declined to make a mandatory title defense against Ennis.

Ennis reached a settlement last month with his former promoter, which made the fighter a free agent. The move should help Ennis land bigger bouts as Matchroom has a TV contract with DAZN and regularly hosts signature events. It could get complicated as many of the premium fighters at 147 pounds are under contract with Premier Boxing Champions and managed by Al Haymon.

» READ MORE: Philly boxer Jaron Ennis becomes world champion after IBF strips Terrence Crawford of welterweight title

“I’m excited for this partnership with Eddie Hearn, Matchroom and DAZN,” said Ennis. “I can’t wait to continue making my mark and become undisputed world champion. I’ve been out of the ring for a year, and I cannot wait to get back in and do what I do best: entertain the fans and put on clinics. There are blockbuster fights on the horizon for me, and I am ready to deliver them.”

“I’ve watched this young man for many years, and I always believed he would become a pound-for-pound great, and I have no doubt he is already the greatest fighter in the division,” Hearn said. “To win the race to sign Jaron is a massive coup for Matchroom Boxing and DAZN.

“Holding the IBF title in one of boxing’s glamour divisions places Jaron front and center for some of the biggest fights out there in the sport, and we plan to deliver them for him. Jaron has everything needed to become a household name both in the sport and in the sporting hotbed of his Philadelphia hometown, where we are committed to building him. Fight fans can get excited for his return in the summer as he looks to hunt down the biggest fights that will elevate him to the pound-for-pound list.”