Jaron Ennis is looking to announce his presence at junior middleweight in emphatic fashion on Oct. 11.

Ennis will step up to 154 pounds for the first time in his career to face Uisma Lima in a WBA title eliminator at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia on DAZN. A win would put Ennis on the doorstep of either a world title shot or a huge fight against interim WBC junior middleweight titleholder Vergil Ortiz early next year on DAZN.

“I’m ready to make a big statement in the 154 division,” Ennis said on Matchroom’s "Flash Knockdown" podcast. “With the extra seven pounds, I’m feeling great. Every time I want to put on a better performance.”

Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) has business of his own to handle when he faces Erickson Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) on Nov. 8 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) became the unified welterweight champion in his last outing, a dominating sixth-round stoppage of Eimantas Stanionis on April 12 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Ennis, 28, became the The Ring, IBF, WBA and welterweight champion, but opted to move up to 154 pounds after the win, largely because of difficulties getting down to 147. Ennis is already ranked No. 1 by the WBA and WBC, No. 2 by the WBO and No. 6 by the IBF at junior middleweight, one of the deepest divisions in boxing. Should the switch-hitting power puncher from Philadelphia emerge victorious against Lima (14-1, 10 KOs), he’ll likely be the mandatory challenger for newly-crowned WBA 154-pound champion Abass Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs) next. Baraou won the interim title with a thrilling unanimous decision victory over the previously undefeated Yoenis Tellez on Aug. 23 in Orlando. The German was then elevated to full titlist once Terence Crawford, who previously held the WBA belt, stepped into the ring to face Canelo Alvarez on Sept. 13. At the moment, Ennis knows he can’t look past Lima. “What I’ve seen with Lima, he comes forward and throws a lot of punches,” Ennis said. “Whatever he brings, I’ll be ready. My mindset that I’ve picked up is that every fight needs to be locked in. I’m treating him like a big name.” Lima has won three consecutive fights since suffering his lone career defeat, a one-sided unanimous decision against undefeated middleweight contender Aaron McKenna in June 2023. Each of those victories came against undefeated fighters, the latest of which was a ninth-round stoppage of Shervantaigh Koopman on May 31 in South Africa. Lima, of Luanda, Angola, will be fighting in the U.S. for the first time when he faces Ennis. “A statement is a knockout,” Ennis said. “The main goal is to have fun and put on a show. As long as I look good, there’s nothing to worry about.”