Jaron Ennis and
Uisma Lima just got a little bit of extra motivation.
Initially,
their fight Saturday at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia was scheduled to be a WBA title eliminator. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, the sanctioning body's interim strap will be on the line.
It’s unclear why the WBA has decided to upgrade their 154-pound matchup, but neither party is complaining.
For Lima (14-1, 10 KOs), beating a rising star in the main event on DAZN would change his life. The 32-year-old from Angola is on a roll, having defeated then-unbeaten fighters in their home countries in each of his last three bouts, but is relatively unknown.
He has won four fights in a row since he lost a decision to
Aaron McKenna in 2023.
Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs, 1 NC) is coming off a
career-defining victory over
Eimantas Stanionis on April 12, a brutal sixth-round knockout that gave the 28-year-old the Ring, IBF and WBA welterweight titles. However, his reign was short-lived as he elected to move up in weight.
The fight on Saturday will be the switch-hitter's junior middleweight debut.
The winner could face
Abass Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs), who was recently elevated to full WBA 154-pound beltholder after beating Yoenis Tellez for the regular version of that strap on August 23.