It was less than four months ago when Jaron Ennis became unified welterweight world champion.
The highly-rated American had secured the IBF belt after being elevated from interim status, making defences of his belt against David Avanesyan and Karen Chukhadzhian.
‘Boots’ then headed into a unification showdown with WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis, where Ennis put in arguably the best performance of his career, forcing his opponent to retire after six rounds to add another strap to his collection at 147lbs.
Further unification battles with the likes of WBC champion Mario Barrios and WBO champion Brian Norman Jr were then touted as potential next targets for Ennis, but he instead announced plans to vacate his belts and move up a division to super-welterweight.
The vacant IBF belt will now be contested by Lewis Crocker and Paddy Donovan in Belfast in September, and the WBA have now revealed who their new world champion is.
Rolly Romero won the WBA Regular welterweight title with an upset victory over Ryan Garcia at Times Square in New York in May, dropping ‘King Ry’ early on before going on to win the fight by unanimous decision.
With ‘Boots’ now set to campaign at 154lbs, it has been confirmed that Romero has been upgraded to full world champion, making him a two-weight world champion having previously held the WBA title at 140lbs.
Romero could now set his sights on some big fights in the welterweight division, and has already made it clear that he is hopeful of landing a showdown with boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, who recently returned with a majority decision draw against Barrios.
As for ‘Boots’, his team is looking at a fight towards the end of this year before resuming talks to face Vergil Ortiz Jr