Jaron Ennis, Cody Crowley Ordered to Have Mandatory IBF Welterweight Title Fight

The IBF announced Saturday that IBF welterweight champion Jaron Ennis will be required to have a mandatory title defense against Cody Crowley.

According to Jake Donovan of BoxingScene.com, IBF championship chairman Carlos Ortiz released the following statement regarding the decision:

"IBF welterweight champion Jaron Ennis was promoted to champion Nov. 28, 2023, his mandatory defense is due on or before March 28, 2024. The leading available contender is No. 3 Cody Crowley.

"Negotiations should commence immediately and be concluded by March 1, 2024. If you are unable to come to an agreement for this bout within the 30 days, the IBF will call for a purse bid."

Per Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, Ennis had wanted his next title defense to be against Mario Barrios, but he must first satisfy the mandatory defense against Crowley.

Mannix added that the current plan for Ennis vs. Crowley is for the bout to take place on the undercard of the next Canelo Alvarez fight provided Alvarez has another fight under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner.

The 26-year-old Ennis is 31-0 with one no-contest during his professional career, and 28 of his wins have come by way of knockout.

He became interim IBF welterweight champion in January 2023 when he beat Karen Chukhadzhian by unanimous decision and retained it in a 10th-round knockout win over Roiman Villa in July.

When previous IBF welterweight champ Terence Crawford could not compete in a unification bout against Ennis due to a scheduled fight against Errol Spence Jr., Ennis was upgraded to the undisputed IBF welterweight champion.

Crowley, a 30-year-old from Canada, turned pro back in 2014 and has racked up a perfect 22-0 record with nine wins by way of knockout during his career.

He has never won or vied for a major world title, so the clash with Ennis will be the biggest fight of his career by far should it happen.

According to Donovan, both Ennis and Crowley will face punishment from the IBF if they are unable to reach an agreement, including "a demotion in the rankings plus a six-month probation period where they cannot participate in an IBF-sanctioned fight."