Ryan Garcia has named one of his former foes as the man to defeat Jaron Ennis, who remains unbeaten following his super-welterweight triumph over Xander Zayas.
The 29-year-old became a two-division unified champion last Saturday, dethroning Zayas with a seventh-round stoppage after scoring three knockdowns.
Besides the fleeting moments of vulnerability he showed in round three, it was a largely dominant performance from ‘Boots’, who now holds the WBO and WBA titles.
As a result, Ennis has taken himself one step closer towards becoming the undisputed king at 154lbs, where Sebastian Fundora and Josh Kelly are the respective WBC and IBF champions.
But much of the talk, it seems, is about a potential all-American clash between ‘Boots’ and Vergil Ortiz Jr, who has not fought since his second-round finish over Erickson Lubin in November.
Ortiz now appears set to return to action later this year, possibly targeting a showdown with Ennis, who WBC champion Garcia believes would lose to Devin Haney.
‘The Dream’ claimed his WBO welterweight title with a unanimous decision victory over Brian Norman Jr in November, but seemingly has the frame and skillset to eventually campaign at 154lbs.
Taking to social media, Garcia revealed his hot take that not even Ennis, the naturally bigger man, would succeed in solving the puzzle of Haney.
“You guys would be surprised but Devin would actually beat Boots.”
You guys would be surprised but Devin would actually beat boots.
— RYAN GARCIA (@RyanGarcia) July 2, 2026
Haney and Garcia collided in April 2024, with the latter claiming a majority decision victory – scoring three knockdowns – only for his triumph to subsequently be ruled a no-contest.
This was because ‘King Ry’ tested positive for ostarine, a banned substance, for which he was dealt a year-long ban.
