Jaron Ennis vs Custio Clayton eliminator targeted for May 21st on Showtime

Dan Rafael reports that top welterweight contenders Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Custio Clayton managed to come to terms for their ordered IBF eliminator just ahead of yesterday’s scheduled purse bid. The bout is now “penciled in” for May 21st on Showtime.

Ennis (28-0, 26 KO) has proven himself arguably the top welterweight prospect on the planet, and that’s including the likes of Vergil Ortiz Jr. He hasn’t seen the judges since 2017, scoring knockouts in his last 18 wins, and handily demolished the dangerous Sergey Lipinets and Thomas Dulorme during his 2021 campaign.

Clayton (19-0-1, 12 KO) was functionally unknown outside of his native Canada, where he’d fought exclusively since his 2014 pro debut, before battling the aforementioned Lipinets to an entertaining draw that could have easily gone his way in 2020.

Whoever wins will eventually be in line to challenge the winner of Errol Spence Jr. vs. Yordenis Ugas. Whoever wins between Eimantas Stanionis and Radzhab Butaev will probably have dibs, but the WBC doesn’t appear to have a mandatory challenger at the moment, so it might not take too terribly long.