Jaron Ennis feels much different as he winds down camp for his fight with Uisma Lima than he did six months ago.

Dropping down to the welterweight limit of 147 pounds became more problematic for the former unified champion than he let on at the time. You wouldn’t have known it by the way Ennis dominated Eimantas Stanionis, but the gifted fighter nicknamed “Boots” knew he’d have to move up to junior middleweight for his following fight.

Ennis was a welterweight for the first nine years of his career. Becoming undisputed champion in that division still appealed to him, but he couldn't wait.

Ennis, 28, announced in June that he would relinquish his Ring, IBF and WBA welterweight titles to compete at 154. He is thankful that he ultimately listened to his body as his junior middleweight debut approaches

“Camp has definitely gone way better,” Ennis told The Ring. “I’ve got that extra seven pounds, so I feel great.”

A fresher Ennis expects his physical condition to help him produce another dominant performance against Angola’s Uisma Lima on October 11. DAZN will stream their 12-round WBA elimination match as a main event from Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, where the NBA’s Sixers and NHL’s Flyers play their home games.

“Me moving up and being at 154, it’s definitely better,” Ennis said. “I feel I’m gonna be better. I feel like I’ll be stronger, I’ll be faster, I’ll be sharper. My IQ will be better. Everything gonna be on point.”

The ambidextrous Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs, 1 NC) was on point in the biggest fight of his career against Stanionis.

He dropped the 2016 Olympian with successive left uppercuts in the sixth round in a bout between unbeaten champions April 12 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Lithuania’s Stanionis (16-1, 9 KOs, 1 NC), who went down for the first time as an amateur or pro, was behind 60-53 on all three scorecards when he declined to answer the bell to start the seventh.

Stanionis was considered by oddsmakers a more dangerous opponent than Lima (14-1, 10 KOs). Making welterweight for the final time proved to be more difficult for Ennis, though, than the fight itself.

“I don’t how I did it, but I just did it,” he said. “I’m a professional and I did what I had to do to make the weight. But now I don’t have to suck myself down seven more pounds."

Ennis declined to discuss a potential showdown with Vergil Ortiz or any other future fights at junior middleweight. Nonetheless, if he beats Lima and Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) defeats Erickson Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) on November 8 in Fort Worth, Texas, DAZN’s decision-makers and Eddie Hearn — whose company, Matchroom Boxing, promotes Ennis — are expected to push for a fight to take place early in 2026.

DraftKings lists Ennis as an unsightly 25-1 favorite to overwhelm Lima, who has won four straight fights since he lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Ireland’s Aaron McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) in June 2023.