Ennis signs multi-fight deal with Matchroom Boxing
IBF welterweight titlist to return this summer for defense on DAZN
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IBF welterweight titlist Jaron “Boots” Ennis, widely regarded as one of boxing’s most talented fighters, has signed multi-fight promotional agreement with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn, they announced Wednesday.
The plan is for Ennis to have his first fight of the deal this summer, when he would make his first defense on DAZN, which has an exclusive deal to show Matchroom Boxing events. The target is July, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite.
“I’m excited for this partnership with Eddie Hearn, Matchroom and DAZN,” Ennis said. “I can’t wait to continue making my mark and becoming 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.”
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Ennis recently became a promotional free agent after his lawsuit against NOW Boxing Promotions for various alleged breaches of contract, namely over not having the number of bouts the contract called for, was settled in March. The company had been run by Cameron Dunkin, Ennis’ longtime manager and then promoter, who died in January with the company being taken over by his widow, Kellie Dunkin.
Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs), 26, had been appearing on Premier Boxing Champions cards promoted by TGB Promotions but was not signed to either entity. Rather, Ennis had a direct deal with Showtime, the broadcaster of PBC events. But when Showtime exited boxing with the shuttering of Showtime Sports in December, Ennis was no longer tied to the network.
According to sources, there were negotiations between Ennis and TGB Promotions for him to continue appearing on PBC cards, which now are on Prime Video. However, those talks broke off in recent days when they were unable to come to an agreement. That left an opening for Hearn to sign Ennis, a fighter he has often talked about in glowing terms and has long been interested in signing.
“What a signing,” Hearn said. “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. 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.”
Whatever big fights Hearn has in mind, Ennis first has a mandatory defense to deal with.
There was an IBF purse bid for a fight between Ennis and mandatory challenger Cody Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs), 31, a Canadian southpaw, scheduled for late last month but canceled when the IBF said it was notified that they had made a deal.
The expectation was that if Crowley signed — and he had already turned down $600,000 for the fight last fall, sources told Fight Freaks Unite — Ennis-Crowley would have landed on a PBC on Prime card in June or July. However, with Crowley still with PBC and Ennis now with Matchroom Boxing and the fight not signed, a purse bid could be scheduled.
Ennis won the vacant interim 147-pound belt by shutout decision over Karen Chukhadzhian in January 2023 in Washington, D.C., on the Showtime PPV undercard of Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia.
Ennis made his only interim defense via 10th-round knockout of Roiman Villa in July in the main event of a Showtime card in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where Ennis, from nearby Philadelphia, was the big crowd favorite.
In November, Ennis was elevated to the IBF’s full titleholder when undisputed champion Terence Crawford was stripped by the organization for declining to enter negotiations for the mandatory defense against Ennis citing his contractual obligation to a rematch with Errol Spence Jr. That rematch never came off when period of time in which they had agreed to have a remtach expired.
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