Jaron 'Boots' Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) has vacated his WBA and IBF world welterweight world titles in a bold career move.
The undefeated 27-year-old from Philadelphia announced he is moving up to super-welterweight.
"It's time! 154. Y'all said this where the smoke at right?!" Ennis wrote on Instagram on June 18, accompanied by a pic of him flexing his muscles in a tight white t-shirt after a sweaty gym session.
Ennis has been the standout operator in the 147 lbs division, especially after former undisputed ruler Terence Crawford moved up.
Ennis attempted to make a fight with Crawford, but it never materialised, with the latter moving up to super-welterweight initially, and now faces Canelo in an undisputed super-middleweight match next, in September.
And now, 'Boots' is set to follow in his rival's footsteps by vacating his belts to move up in class.
It's possible that Crawford could return back down to 154 lbs after his mega-fight with Canelo, meaning the long-awaited showdown with 'Boots' could potentially still happen.
Ennis also said on Instagram, "Let's have it then! 2x weight division champ. 4x world champ loading."
Crawford is still the WBA super-welterweight champion, while Sebastian Fundora holds the WBC and WBO belts, and Bakhram Murtazaliev is the IBF titleholder.