It took less than a round on Saturday for Jaron "Boots" Ennis to bring his official 154-pound debut to a thunderous close.

Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs), the former unified welterweight champion, sent a loud and clear message to the junior middleweight division by scoring two knockdowns en route to a first-round TKO of Portugal's Uisma Lima (14-1, 10 KOs) inside of a loud Wells Fargo Center crowd.

"I sent a big message," Ennis said. "You already know what time it is and you know who I want next."

The victory, which marked Ennis' first appearance since stopping unbeaten Eimantas Stanionsis in their April unification bout at 147 pounds, likely sets up a long-anticipated showdown with Vergil Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs), provided he gets past Erickson Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs) in November.

"Line them up an

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