The Unified welterweight champion, 27, has long toyed with moving up from 147 lbs, and has now announced he is intending to jump to the next weight class at 154 lbs in an effort to get unification fights.

In an interview with YMS Sports Media, Ennis said: “I feel like now’s the time because I’ve been at ‘47 for nine years, almost 10 years.

“I’ve been making that weight for a long time and I feel like the time is right. It’s time for me to be comfortable and be myself.”

Ennis added he had chosen to move up a weight class in order to chase down more belts.

He explained: “What made me pivot is some of these other champions, they be taking other fights and things like that in between, and I just feel like I don’t have no time for that.

“My goal was to be having them back to back, fight champion after champion after champion and move up to 154. Like I always said in previous interviews, I’m down here for the belts.

“It’s time to move up, time to be me, time to be comfortable and not play a dangerous game going down to ‘47 ‘cause you got to be on point. You cutting weight, any miss, hiccup or anything like that, you can have an off night and I don’t want to have no off nights.”

By moving up to junior middleweight, Ennis will be vacating his IBF and WBA welterweight titles.

Even so, the fighter - who dropped and stopped Eimantas Stanionis in the sixth round in their explosive match in April - has insisted the junior middleweight class is “where they say the smoke [is] at”.

He said: “After that last performance every fight I have to have a crazy performance, an explosive performance every time out, and that’s what I want to give you guys.

“So I think ‘54 is where I’m going to do it at and this is where they say the smoke at so, I’m here now. Let’s make it happen, let’s get it poppin’.”