After his Saturday night bout at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall, Jaron “Boots” Ellis hopes his next fight is the biggest.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday Sun
While the hype seems to be surrounding the July 29 welterweight title unification bout between Errol Spence and Terence Crawford, the person hoping to take on the winner of that fight, rising welterweight contender Jaron “Boots” Ennis, has a big fight of his own tonight at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
The 26-year-old Ennis (30-0, 27 knockouts), who has been taking the boxing world by storm with his speed and devastating knockout power, will take on another rising contender 30-year-old Venezuelan Roiman Villa (26-1, 24 knockouts), who is coming up off an upset victory by majority decision of previously unbeaten welterweight contender Rhashidi Ellis.
Meanwhile, Ennis is looking to make a statement when he takes on Villa. In his last fight against Ukrainian fighter Karen Chukhadzhian, Ennis won by a one-sided unanimous decision back on Jan. 7 that raised a few disappointed eyebrows from his fans who were looking for him to come away with one of his spectacular knockouts.
But the North Philly native said he used the fight against Chukhadzhian as a learning experience.
“What I learned from my last [fight was], a lot of things. Just to be patient, not look for the knockout and go back to doing what I was doing before, having fun, being smart, being sharp, and let the knockout come,” Ennis said. “On (Saturday), I’m expecting fireworks … I’m going back to do what I usually do having fun, putting on a beautiful show, beating him up, and getting a stoppage at the end of the fight.”
Ennis’s trainer and his father, Derek “Bozy” Ennis said Jaron got frustrated because Chukhazhian kept running and refused to engage with his fighter to avoid Ennis’s power.
“Boots got a little pissed off because he’s used to guys fighting him,” said Bozy Ennis. (Chukhazhian) wasn’t trying to fight him. I told (Boots) to cut the ring off. He started cutting it off and then he started following him. (Boots) wasn’t used to that type of stuff. He fought guys that could really fight but they would engage.”
Knocking out Villa may be easier said than done for Ennis. In his upset win over Ellis, Villa fell behind early and was getting tagged by Ellis’s jabs. But in the late rounds, Villa reversed the tide of that fight and was landing hard shots to Ellis’s jaw. In the 12th round, Villa exploded and knocked down Ellis two times to secure the majority decision.
Jaron and Bozy Ennis say they are expecting Villa to come forward and to come out fighting in the same way he attacked Ellis in the late rounds. Jaron plans to use Villa’s aggression against him.
“I know he’s a come-forward fighter, no defense, throws wide punches, and puts pressure on fighters,” Jaron said. “It doesn’t take long to figure out your opponent. It will probably take me a couple of seconds just to see certain gestures that he does. After that, I’m clicking, I’m ready to go and I’m ready to find that opening and get that knockout.”
With all the expectations of Ennis being not only the next great Philadelphia fighter but the next great world welterweight champion on the same level as both Spence and Crawford, Ennis said he doesn’t feel any pressure because he’s been in the gym with his two older brothers all his life.
“I focus on doing what I have to do by being in the gym listening to my dad and doing everything I need to do,” Jaron said. “I feel like there’s no pressure for me because I had two brothers that were in this boxing game, and they fought on Showtime and ESPN. All the cameras and stuff were always around before. I feel like this is nothing new for me. There’s no pressure on me at all. It’s just me going in there and having fun and doing my thing.”
Bozy Ennis believes that while his son is on the same level as Spence and Crawford, Jaron Ennis can be even better, especially when he goes against better fighters. He said his son can take his game to the next level.
“[Boots] is on their level … But the only thing that’s different now is that he never had to go to the next level. He’s gotta another level to go to,” Bozy Ennis said. “Nobody’s ever brought [Jaron] that level yet out. He’s already on [Spence and Crawford’s] level, but nobody has seen the real ‘Boot’ yet. When he gets in there when somebody that can really make him fight and really him perform, that’s when you’ll see the real Boots.”
The Ennis-Villa fight will be airing live on Showtime tonight at 9:30.
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