Jaron Ennis will now defend his IBF welterweight title against David Avanesyan in his hometown of Philadelphia on July 13th.
Ennis (31-0, 28KOs) was initially set to face Canada's unbeaten Cody Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs) at the Wells Fargo Center before the latter was forced to withdraw because of an eye injury.
The fight will be Ennis' first defence of his title and his first since signing with Matchroom Boxing back in April.
Avanesyan, meanwhile, secured a fourth-round stoppage victory in December after suffering a sixth-round knockout defeat to Terence Crawford 12 months prior.
Ennis set for Philadelphia return in first fight as champion
The 26-year-old has not fought in his hometown since a second-round victory over Raymond Serrano back in November, 2018.
He has won all ten of his fights since, including eight times inside the distance, and most recently defended his IBF 'interim' title with a tenth-round knockout of Roiman Villa 11 months ago.
That fight was his last under the Showtime Boxing banner following the channel's collapse, leaving Ennis as a promotional free agent before penning a deal with Matchroom three months ago.
Above: Ennis has won eight of his last 10 fights inside the distance. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)
Ennis was also upgraded to IBF world champion after former titleholder Crawford was stripped of the belt in November last year.
A win over Avanesyan will setup potential unifications in the division, with Crawford still holding the WBA and WBO titles at welterweight.
Avanesyan gets third world title shot
Armenia's Avanesyan will now get a third shot at becoming world champion after defeats to Crawford and Lamont Peterson in his first two attempts.
His most recent loss came against WBO champion Crawford, and ended with Avanesyan flat on his back with 46 seconds remaining in the sixth round.
The now 35-year-old had lost all five rounds before a devastating right-hand by the champion handed Avanesyan his second stoppage loss as a professional.
Above: Avanesyan was stopped inside six rounds by Crawford in 2022. (Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images)
He also lost a unanimous decision to then WBA champion Peterson back in February, 2017.
Avanesyan previously enjoyed a reign as European champion, though, winning the title in March 2019 before making five successful defences.
Nicolson set for first title defence on undercard
Newly-crowned WBC featherweight champion Skye Nicolson (10-0, 1KO) will make the first defence of her title against Dyana Vargas (19-1, 12KOs) further down the card.
Nicolson won the vacant title with a dominant unanimous-decision win over Sarah Mahfoud back in April.
The Australian has long been targeting a fight with unified champion Amanda Serrano, who opted to vacate the WBC belt in December following a disagreement with the sanctioning body.
Serrano wanted to defend her undisputed featherweight titles over 12, three-minute rounds but the WBC refused to sanction a fight over the distance.
Above: Nicolson became world champion with a comfortable victory over Mahfoud two months ago. (Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Getty Images)
