Eddie Hearn has a lot of respect for Terence Crawford and everything the four-weight world champion has accomplished.

The British promoter also has some advice for one of the best boxers of this generation. Hearn encouraged Crawford to relinquish the WBA 154-pound title before Jaron Ennis encounters Uisma Lima in a WBA elimination match Oct. 11 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Ennis (34-0, 31 KOs, 1 NC) would become the WBA’s mandatory challenger in his new division if the heavily favored former welterweight champion beats Angola’s Lima (14-1, 10 KOs). The Philadelphia native would then call Crawford out louder than ever – win, lose or draw in Crawford’s showdown with Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 13 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

“[Ennis is] fighting a final eliminator for the WBA title, which puts us as mandatory to Terence Crawford,” Hearn told The Ring. "Now, obviously, he may never fight again at ’54, but he has not vacated his title yet.

"If I’m Terence Crawford, I’m vacating now. Because when we become mandatory, we’re calling that fight on, and then he’s gonna have to vacate the belt once Boots is mandatory. That’s not a great look.”

Ennis chased the Crawford fight for a couple years before accepting Crawford wouldn’t grant him that opportunity. Crawford publicly acknowledged that fighting the younger, hungry, multidimensional Ennis didn’t make much business sense at this stage of his Hall of Fame career.

Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) has instead moved up two weight classes to challenge Alvarez (63-2-2, 39 KOs) for the Mexican legend’s Ring, IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles.

The prevailing feeling within the boxing industry is Crawford won’t return to compete at the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds, even though holding on to his WBA belt at least gives the Omaha, Nebraska, native leverage at that lower weight.

“Probably not, but I don’t see why not,” Hearn said of Crawford dropping back down in weight. “He’s not a 68-pounder. He’s not a 60-pounder, either. You know, you saw against Madrimov he might not even be a big 154-pounder. And I think Crawford against Boots is just an unbelievable fight.”

Crawford, 37, hasn’t fought since he beat Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov (10-2-1, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision almost 13 months ago at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. His competitive fight with Madrimov marked Crawford’s only bout above the welterweight limit of 147 pounds.

Alvarez, 35, has competed at super middleweight or light heavyweight in each of his 12 bouts over the past six years. He still enlisted Ennis as one of his sparring partners recently as he winds down training camp for a fight Netflix will stream worldwide.

Ennis, meanwhile, is already ranked second by the WBA in the 154-pound division. The former Ring, IBF and WBA welterweight champ announced two months ago that he planned to move up to junior middleweight.

The top spot in the WBA’s 154-pound rankings should become available because No.1-rated German Abass Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs) upset Cuba’s Yoenis Tellez (10-1, 7 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the WBA interim title on Aug. 23 at Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.