{"id":770887,"date":"2026-06-30T11:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T11:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/770887\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T11:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T11:04:10","slug":"eddie-hearn-names-josh-kelly-as-leading-candidate-for-jaron-boots-ennis-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/770887\/","title":{"rendered":"Eddie Hearn Names Josh Kelly As Leading Candidate For Jaron &#8216;Boots&#8217; Ennis Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=boxingnews24.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"660\" height=\"208\" alt=\"Add EBoxing News 24as a preferred source on Google\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/google.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p>  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>  <a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqLAgKIiZDQklTRmdnTWFoSUtFR0p2ZUdsdVoyNWxkM015TkM1amIyMG9BQVAB?ceid=US\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" style=\"display:flex; align-items:center; justify-content:center;&#010;            width:140px; height:40px; overflow:hidden;\"><br \/>\n    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"468\" height=\"128\" alt=\"Follow Boxing News 24 on Google News\" style=\"height:100%; width:auto; display:block;\" class=\"perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/follow-google-news.png\"\/><br \/>\n  <\/a> <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s what Jaron Ennis wants. He wants belts. So whether that\u2019s Josh Kelly, whether that\u2019s Fundora, he\u2019s going to want to fight the other champions before he moves up to 160,\u201d said Hearn last Saturday night at the post-fight press conference.<\/p>\n<p>Kelly\u2019s immediate focus is his first IBF title defense against unbeaten Caoimhin Agyarko on July 25. The bout is expected to take place in Saudi Arabia on the Anthony Joshua-Kristian Prenga undercard, although Newcastle has also been discussed as a possible alternative venue. Kelly captured the IBF belt in January with a majority decision upset over Bakhram Murtazaliev and will be making the first defense of his championship.<\/p>\n<p>Hearn suggested Kelly could become available for a showdown with Ennis before the end of the year if he successfully retains his title.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJosh will fight July 25th and then probably November, December. So, you know, could be one for Philly,\u201d said Hearn.<\/p>\n<p>The Matchroom chairman also praised Kelly\u2019s ability, calling him \u201csuper talented\u201d and pointing to his movement as one of the qualities that would present Ennis with a different type of challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Hearn stopped short of naming Kelly as the definite next opponent, noting that several possibilities remain under consideration. He also mentioned WBC champion Sebastian Fundora and interim WBC titleholder Virgil Ortiz Jr. as potential fights, depending on how the title picture develops over the coming months. Tonight, Fundora\u2019s promoter, Sampson Lewkowicz, ruled out a fight against Ennis next.<\/p>\n<p>After his win over WBA and WBO champion Zayas, Ennis made it clear that becoming the undisputed champion at 154 pounds is his priority. If Kelly defeats Agyarko on July 25, a unification bout with Boots could quickly become one of the division\u2019s biggest fights for late 2026.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"182\" data-end=\"497\">Dan Ambrose is a boxing journalist at Boxing News 24, recognized for his direct analysis and extensive coverage of the global fight landscape. His reporting focuses on major bouts, divisional developments, and the sport\u2019s most discussed storylines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThat\u2019s what Jaron Ennis wants. He wants belts. So whether that\u2019s Josh Kelly, whether that\u2019s Fundora, he\u2019s going&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":770888,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,82],"class_list":["post-770887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-boxing","tag-boxing","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=770887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/770887\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/770888"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=770887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=770887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=770887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}