Ennis Names Kelly Toughest Fight At 154

Jaron Ennis bypassed the obvious choice when asked about his hardest test at junior middleweight.

The WBA and WBO champion told TNT Sports during Friday's Andy Ruiz broadcast that IBF titlist Josh Kelly presents the stiffest challenge at 154 pounds, not the towering Sebastian Fundora. Ennis appeared live alongside Shawn Porter, Tim Bradley and Terence Crawford following Ruiz's loss to Damian Knyba at Newark's Prudential Center.

"The toughest fight I would say is Josh Kelly," Ennis said, per The Ring. "To me, he can box, he can move, this is what everybody saying I can't do. I'll show y'all. Can't nobody in this boxing game mess with me. These guys can't do what I do."

Fundora holds the WBC strap but faces mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj on October 17 in Las Vegas. That leaves Kelly as the immediate target. The Ring's No. 6-ranked Kelly won a messy decision over Caoimhin Agyarko in July on the Joshua-Prenga undercard, suffering a deep nose gash in the process.

Ennis said he instructed promoter Eddie Hearn to lock in the Kelly bout and confirmed talks are moving forward. He added the fight could land before the calendar flips, with his sights set on cleaning out the division. Ennis unified two belts in June when he stopped Xander Zayas and has made no secret of his goal to become undisputed champion at 154.