Eddie Hearn has confirmed that Matchroom and Golden Boy are locked in talks regarding a 154lb superfight between Jaron "Boots" Ennis and Vergil Ortiz Jr.

The promoter says it is "probably inevitable" that The Ring's welterweight champion Ennis will vacate his 147lb titles and make the move to junior middleweight later this year.

In his last fight, the 28-year-old unified the IBF and WBA belts with a brilliant sixth-round stoppage victory over the previously undefeated world champion Eimantas Stanionis, who is now No. 2 in The Ring 147lb rankings.

Turki Alalshikh, head of Riyadh Season and chairman of the General Entertainment Authority of Saudi Arabia, last month revealed his desire to match Ennis and Ortiz at the top of a Riyadh bill in November, but it now looks as if that card will be headlined by Devin Haney and Brian Norman Jr.

According to Hearn, Ennis is expected back in the ring in late September-early October in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, after beating Stanionis in Atlantic City, New Jersey, with Matchroom working on an opponent for the 154lb debut.

But moves are still being made to put Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) in with Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) for one of the best possible fights that could be made in boxing.

During an interview with The Ring on Tuesday, Hearn was asked whether Boots has officially left the welterweights behind. The promoter said: “Pretty much but until you write to the governing bodies and tell them, that’s the big move, but it’s probably inevitable.”

On the likely return date, he added: “Probably in September or early October he will be back in the ring at 154lbs —

we’ve made a few offers to opponents at 154lbs and he’s ready to jump back in. I’m looking forward to seeing Boots step up in weight and I think you’ll see a different animal at 154.

“It will probably be in Philadelphia. There’s always a lot of pressure on Boots when he fights in Philly. We took him out of Philly and to Atlantic City last time and he performed fantastically so I think he can sell in multiple cities, but likely Philadelphia for the return.

“The Vergil Ortiz fight we are discussing with Golden Boy at the moment. I think that’s inevitable. We want that fight and I think it’s massive — one of the best in American boxing.”

The great Terence Crawford is the only fighter ranked above Ortiz by The Ring at 154. After starting his career with 11 straight knockouts at 140, the Texan puncher moved up to welterweight where he racked up another eight inside-distance wins.

But after a string of health problems at that weight, he moved up to junior-middleweight at the start of 2024 and could now be in line for a huge showdown with Boots.