Jaron Ennis targets Fundora, Kelly over 'tailor-made' Ortiz

Jaron Ennis has no interest in waiting around for Vergil Ortiz. The Philadelphia welterweight, who stopped Xander Zayas in seven rounds last month to claim the WBA and WBO 154-pound straps, told The Ring's "Inside The Ring" podcast Monday that his focus has shifted entirely to the other titleholders in the division.

Ennis said he trained for the Ortiz matchup starting in January, only to watch the bout collapse repeatedly while Ortiz remains tied up in a legal dispute with Golden Boy Promotions. "I did my part," he said, per The Ring. "It kept moving. It is what it is. Right now, my task is belts. I'm the man of the division. I do what I want. My goal is to be undisputed, and that's what I am going to do."

Fundora and Kelly present unification path

The 29-year-old now has his sights on WBC champion Sebastian Fundora and IBF titlist Josh Kelly. Ennis called Fundora "a tall task" and suggested fans would view that fight as a step up compared to Ortiz, whom he described as predictable. "You know what you get from Vergil. He's going to try to walk you down," Ennis said. "People are going to say it's a tailor-made fight for me. Fighting a guy like Fundora, they'll accept it more."

Both potential opponents have mandatory defenses to handle first. Kelly faces Caoimhin Agyarko in Saudi Arabia in his first defense since beating Bakhram Murtazaliev in July, while Fundora is due to meet Ermal Hadribeaj in September or October. Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs) dropped Zayas three times in their lopsided affair and now sits at No. 9 on The Ring's pound-for-pound list.

He said the bigger the fight, the sharper he gets. "I am here to collect those belts and be undisputed at 154 pounds. I will be undisputed." Ennis is scheduled to return later this year, assuming Fundora and Kelly clear their obligations.

Source: ringmagazine.com