As Jaron “Boots” Ennis prepares for his first welterweight title defense Saturday against David Avanesyan, he feels no pressure to perform.
Despite Saturday’s fight being the first of a lucrative multi-fight deal he signed with Matchroom Boxing and a massive event (more than 10,000 tickets sold) at the Wells Fargo Center in his hometown of Philadelphia, Ennis (31-0, 28 knockouts) didn’t let the enormity of the moment get to him. In fact, it was exactly the scenario he imagined. He believes events like this are where he belongs. He’s confident in his talent beyond the weight class, but the road he’s traveled has been longer than expected before the large opportunities have come his way.
Ennis has every right to be confident about his future. After years of waiting for bigger names in the division like Terence Crawford and Errol Spence to give him a chance, those two have seemingly left the division for good, giving Ennis a chance to make his mark on the division. While he certainly wanted those bigger fights, he now understands that he will have the opportunity, if he wins on Saturday, to face the other champions in the division. As it stands, there are no bigger prospects in the welterweight division than Ennis, and there are no huge guarantees of a payday compared to the other top fighters at 147. There are fights to be made.
Ennis also has a spotless slate in terms of representation. Saturday will be Ennis’ first fight in a year, as he no longer has any promotional ties with his former promoter (the tardy Cameron Dunkin and Dunkin’s heirs). With Matchroom, Ennis expects to be promoted on a platform (DAZN) that will pay for opponents. Although he previously had a multi-fight deal with Showtime, for some reason that deal didn’t provide him with major opponents. After offers from multiple parties, Ennis liked the plan that Matchroom and Eddie Heard presented him. Hearn believes Ennis is a star and deserves large events, and he also has the global reach to lure Boots’ top opponents on the road.
Saturday will be Ennis’ first fight in Philadelphia in more than five years. Although he was a darling of the Philadelphia club fight scene, his professional career has included his biggest assignments away from home. Part of the appeal of Matchroom’s offer was a shared understanding of building Ennis at home. The early results of the partnership were good. The fight did better than many expected at the box office. The Wells Fargo Center wasn’t a large player in boxing, but the combination of Boots’ star power and Matchroom’s belief in boxers building a local following led to a successful promotion.
Boots grew up surrounded by boxing. His two older brothers, Derek (24-5-1) and Farah (22-2), were respected professionals who had a reputation as great sparring partners for the best fighters of their era. “They taught me a lot of things,” Boots said. “They taught me to always be ready, to always be in shape. That’s why I am who I am today. I’m always in the gym, always ready. I took that from them and it helped me get to where I am.”
By all accounts, Boots was a prodigy in the gym, an athletic prodigy who was able to master a range of fighting styles at a teenage age. Boots can punch, box, switch up his punches, and overwhelm opponents with hand speed, power, and accuracy.
While Ennis is extremely confident in his skills and abilities, as a gym rat, he appreciates the times he’s faced adversity in his career. Ennis failed to stop the soft-hitting Karen Chukhadzhian in early 2023. He was criticized for not being able to leave the ring and landing single punches to get the knockout. Ennis called the experience “a blessing.” He and his father/trainer, Derek “Bozy” Ennis, immediately returned to the gym and came to some crucial conclusions.
“I went into that fight thinking knockout, knockout,” “Boots” Ennis said. “And it wasn’t even about having fun. It was knockout, knockout. That’s what it was about. I finally started getting into my body and doing my job. It was a learning experience. I lasted 12 rounds and could have lasted 12 more. I was in phenomenal shape that night. That fight was a blessing and I’m glad I had it. That fight got me back to having fun and being myself, not looking for a knockout.”
Similarly, when he landed a few powerful right punches earlier in his career against Thomas Dulorme and Sergey Lipinets, he didn’t ignore or downplay those moments. He saw them as opportunities to improve. “Those fights taught me to be a little more patient, to be a little more keen,” he said. “Since those fights, I’ve been working on being a little more sharp-eyed and better in the ring.”
While Ennis is gifted offensively, Boots said his father’s biggest focus is defense. For them, it’s the foundation of boxing. And Boots has faced solid defensive fighters throughout his career, whether it’s the tough style of former welterweight contender Ray Robinson, with whom he fought countless rounds, or the talented Cuban lightweight Andy Cruz, who has mastered the “hit and don’t get hit” style of the Cuban School of Boxing. And while Boots is always confident in his abilities, he understands there’s always room to improve.
Avanesyan (30-4-1, 18 KOs) is a tardy replacement opponent for Cody Crowley, who withdrew from the fight after failing an eye exam. Avanesyan lost his last fight to Terence Crawford in 2022, but will certainly be looking to pull off another upset in his storied career. Despite the significant difference in styles of his opponents (Crowley is a boxer who relies on angles and movement, while Avanesyan is more of a power puncher), Ennis wasn’t concerned about the change, saying there haven’t been any significant changes during training camp.
Naturally, Ennis and Terence Crawford will be compared in terms of how they fare against their common opponent, Avanesyan, and it’s worth noting that Ennis has become the full-fledged welterweight champion since Crawford gave up the belt to move up to 154 pounds. But while Ennis has certainly wanted to fight Crawford for years, he understands that his time will come, even if it doesn’t fit his preferred schedule.
“It will come,” Ennis said. “The large fights will come. I have to stay patient, beat whoever they put in front of me, and it will come.”
The World Boxing Council (WBC) ordered world cruiserweight champion Badou “The Ripper” Jack (20-1-1, 19 KO) to make a mandatory title defense against Ryan “The Bruiser” Rozicki (20-1), number 1 in the WBC ranking – 1, 19 KOs).
If both camps fail to successfully negotiate an agreement, the WBC will organize a tender on February 4, followed by the Jack vs. Rozicki. Rozicki’s promoter, Three Lions Promotions, immediately sent Team Jacek an offer to promote the fight in Canada last week.
“We are waiting for their counteroffer,” explained promoter Dan Otter of Three Lions Promotions. “Boxing has had a huge resurgence in Canada and Ryan is leading the way. He is one of the most electrifying and hardest-hitting fighters in boxing, definitely in the cruiserweight division. He wants the WBC green belt and ultimately the unification of the division. Ryan will fight Jack anywhere for the belt.”
29-year-old Rozicki, born in Sydney (Nova Scotia) and living in Hamilton (Ontario), fought 22 professional fights against 21 different opponents (twice against Yamil Alberto Peralta), stopping 19 of the 20 opponents he defeated. an eye-opening 95-KO percentage.
Jack, 41, was a 2008 Olympian representing his native Sweden. He is a three-division world champion, as well as the WBC super middleweight and World Boxing Association (WBA) lightweight heavyweight title holder. Jack has a record of 5-0-2 (2 KO) in world championship fights.
“We respect Jack and I don’t want to sound disrespectful,” Otter added, “but he’s over 40 years vintage and has been relatively inactive for two years (only one fight). He brings a lot of experience and respect to the ring, but he will fight a newborn defender with a lot of power. Jack is going to struggle and honestly, I don’t think he’ll make it past the first few rounds.”
Ryan Rozicki is on a mission to become the first Canadian cruiserweight world champion.
Floyd Mayweather’s incredible 50-0 record is not normal and cannot be repeated in sports for another seventy years.
This is the view of Saudi Arabian president Turki Alalshikh, who wants to adopt the UFC model in which fighters lose many fights during their career.
In a speech as he hosted the Ring Magazine Awards after acquiring the long-running boxing publication from Oscar De La Hoya, Alalshikh was unequivocal in his opinion.
“Now losing some fights in boxing must be normal,” he explained. “All fighters want a career similar to Floyd Mayweather – no losses. This may happen once every 50, 60 or 70 years.
“We need it [to be] like currently in the UFC model, where champions lose and win,” added the matchmaker during the Riyad season.
Mayweather rose through the sport in the tardy 1990s to become one of its youngest superstars. Mayweather’s professional success came after winning a bronze medal at the Olympics after losing to Serafim Todorov.
Winning world titles in five weight classes, Mayweather was untouchable. The Grand Rapids native only came close to defeat a few times. He dominated Manny Pacquiao and overtook Canelo Alvarez and Oscar De La Hoya after heated debates, with decisions that should have been made unanimously.
Towards the end of his career, Mayweather chose to face Andre Berto and Conor McGregor, easily winning and ending his boxing career at the age of 50 without ever going out. Calling himself “the greatest of all time,” Mayweather earned first-ballot Hall of Fame honors and is widely considered one of, if not the greatest defensive fighter of all time.
However, Alalshikh says this type of career needs to end so that fans can get the most out of boxing, as is the case with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Boxing needs to become more attractive, and Alalshikh sees the failures of top stars as a way to keep interest at an all-time high.
In this sport, many boxers enjoy undefeated streaks, the most notable of which is Oleksandr Usyk. The Ukrainian Pound for Pound King is 23-0 and has beaten the best he has to offer in his division and cruiserweight classification.
It remains a mystery how Alalshikh plans to make Usyk suffer while he dominates everyone else. By the time his grand plan goes into action, Usyk will be long gone, and Gervonta Davis, Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney may be more realistic targets.
WBN understands that despite alternative options emerging, it is more likely that Manny Pacquiao will face Mario Barrios next.
Bob Santos, coach of WBC welterweight champion Barrios, told World Boxing News that he is currently in contact with Pacquiao’s team. Asked by WBN if he had spoken to Pacquiao or representatives of any other challenger, Santos replied: “Yes, Pacquiao’s promoter, Sean Gibbons.” Pressed on whether Barrios vs Pacquiao might happen next, he added: “It’s challenging to say. We’ll have to see how this plays out.”
WBN contacted Santos after Conor Benn emerged as a potential alternative to Barrios. The British fighter, who recently returned from a suspension following two positive drug tests, is keen to return to competition.
Benn showed favor with the World Boxing Council at the recent WBC Convention, the WBC Evaluation Committee and during an interview with the sanctioning body over the weekend. “The Destroyer” is ranked second in the rankings at 147 pounds, despite less than solid opponents during his time in exile, during which Benn competed twice in the United States while his career in the United Kingdom was in doubt.
As he battled to clear his name and with the British Anti-Doping Authority finding no evidence that Benn had intentionally taken ostarine, the 28-year-old’s career took a pointed nosedive. Despite this, he remains highly rated and at least one step away from fighting for an eliminator or one of the remaining championship titles.
However, Pacquiao remains Barrios’ favorite. Now it’s up to the boxing legend and Hall of Famer who got the first votes to secure his shot. WBN believes a July date – most likely at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas – is the most realistic date for a Nevada swan song.
Pacquiao could extend his record as the oldest welterweight champion by six years if he can secure a huge victory over the 29-year-old world champion. At 46 years antique, such a scenario remains unlikely, but he can never be compared to one of the greatest players of this generation.
Unlike heavier boxers and his training regiment, Pacquiao looks in great shape despite his advanced age. Everything is set for a massive return to the boxing capital of the world, provided Pacquiao and his team can manage his political ambitions, which are expected to run from this month until May. After that time, Pacquiao could find himself in the summer finals and become the all-time champion, regardless of the result.
Barrios is based in the city, where he trained with Santos, and would be the perfect opponent to see out the career of one of the greatest fighters in history.
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