THE July 13 homecoming for Jaron Ennis in Philadelphia needs a new opponent, according to a report.
Ennis, the current IBF welterweight champion, is just under six weeks away from making his ring return and was due to fight mandatory challenger Cody Crowley. However, ESPN have reported that Crowley cannot compete, having failed a pre-fight eye exam, which is bad news for the Canadian who last year underwent emergency double eye surgery.
The race is on for Ennis’s new promotional team – Matchroom – to find a suitable replacement for the first defence of his IBF welterweight world title at Wells Fargo Centre.
Ennis reacted to the news in the early hours of this morning (UK time) with the following post on X/Twitter.
If it’s Cody or not I will still be fighting a top contender on July 13 as planned! DONT WORRY!
— Boots (@JaronEnnis) June 5, 2024
Matchroom and Eddie Hearn have yet to comment and there was no response from the latter when Boxing News reached out to him earlier today (June 5). However, yesterday they did reveal the undercard for the July 13 event which includes a first world title defence for WBC Female featherweight champion Skye Nicolson against Dyana Vargas. While Hearn’s newest American signing Jalil Major Hackett faces Peter Dobson in a 10-round welterweight contest.