Philly’s Jaron Ennis is lined up for big fights in 2026. First, a mismatch on Saturday night.

Jaron “Boots” Ennis already signed a contract for his next fight, the one that would make him one of boxing’s pound-for-pound stars with a win. First, the boxer from Germantown has to dispatch a seldom-known fighter on Saturday night in South Philadelphia.

Ennis (34-0, 30 knockouts) will debut Saturday at 154 pounds against Uisma Lima (14-1, 10 KOs) at the Xfinity Mobile Arena with the broadcast airing on DAZN. The former unified welterweight champion is a massive -3,000 favorite (a $100 bet would profit just $3.33) against Lima. For Ennis, it’s a tune-up before what should be a career-defining year.

Eddie Hearn, Ennis’ promoter and one of boxing’s power brokers as the CEO of Matchroom, said he has a deal for the 28-year-old Ennis to meet Vergil Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs) early in 2026. Hearn spoke earlier this week to Ortiz’s promoters at Golden Boy, who told him that they want the fight to happen after Ortiz defends his WBC interim junior middleweight title on Nov. 8 against Erickson Lubin.

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Wins in the next month by Ennis and Ortiz would clear the path for Ennis-Ortiz, a fight Hearn said would likely be in Las Vegas.

“I’ll take their word for it,” Hearn said. “They truly believe that their guy is the best at 154. Boots vs. Ortiz is one of the best fights to be made in American boxing. Their styles are perfect. It’s by far the top two at 154. I’m very hopeful.”

A win next year over Ortiz would make Boots a star, a two-division world champion who Hearn would love to position against Terence Crawford, the biggest name in boxing. The 38-year-old Crawford will likely not fight again until later next year, which Hearn said gives him plenty of runway to build up Ennis’ resume.

“That for me is the best fight in boxing: Crawford vs. Jaron Ennis,” Hearn said. “I know it’s not going to happen next, but over the next 12 months, if Crawford wants to fight and test himself, he’ll want a load of money. So we have to build our brand and our profile so that everyone in the world is saying ‘Oh my God. Can Crawford beat Boots? Wow.’”

Ennis fights on Saturday, plans to meet Ortiz early next year, and then would have a chance to fight twice more in 2026 before aligning himself with Crawford in 2027. Crawford’s stunning domination last month of Canelo Álvarez — who sparred with Ennis during training camp — was at 168 pounds, the weight Hearn said he thinks the 5-foot-10 Ennis will eventually fight at.

“Look at the size of him. He’s massive,” Hearn said. “This is going to allow him to have a better engine. More power, more physicality. Just a bigger tank of energy.”

But before Ennis can become a star, he has to take care of Lima. The fight is a huge mismatch as it was made to welcome Ennis to his new weight class after he ended his time at 147 pounds with perhaps the signature win of his career, April’s dominant stoppage of Eimantas Stanionis in Atlantic City. Ennis looked that night like a star. Next year, he’ll have a chance to become one.

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“This guy thinks he can win,” Hearn said of Lima. “He’s very dangerous, don’t get me wrong. He beats a lot of these guys at 154, but he doesn’t beat Jaron Ennis. He’ll come in to fight, and it will be amazing for the crowd. I bumped into his manager and he said, ‘We had the camp of our lives. I’m telling you know, we’re winning this fight.’ I’m like, ‘OK. Good luck on that one.’ But that’s what you want. You want someone who is coming in to win. He’s going to walk into, in my opinion, the future pound-for-pound No. 1 in the sport. I truly believe that. I truly believe this guy is as good as the Crawfords. And he’s still 10 years younger than Crawford.”