Max Kellerman Warns Jaron Ennis Must Start Landing Signature Wins

Kellerman says elite talent is no longer enough as Ennis prepares for his biggest fight against Xander Zayas on June 27

Max Kellerman believes Jaron Ennis has reached a critical stage of his career where talent alone is no longer enough. Ahead of Saturday’s fight with Xander Zayas, Kellerman argued that Ennis now needs signature victories to match the praise that has followed him throughout boxing.

“You know you’re seeing special talent,” Kellerman said on Ring Magazine’s Inside the Ring. “Special. And that’s the reason I bring up Tank. Same thing. You know, you’re watching special talent, but if you don’t eventually fight guys and prove it, then your whole career goes by.”

Kellerman pointed to former multi-division champion Hector Camacho as an example of a fighter whose natural gifts were undeniable but whose résumé never fully matched the expectations created by his talent.

“Hector Camacho, Macho Camacho, when he was coming up. That’s as good a talent as you can see. But eventually the whole career goes by, and you go, but the career wasn’t quite what it might have been,” Kellerman said. “Boots to me was already in that danger zone, where is he going to fight someone? This is at least a step in the right direction.”

A victory over Zayas would give Ennis arguably the most significant win of his career and move him closer to the major fights fans have been demanding.

Ennis enters Saturday’s fight as the favorite against Zayas, but Kellerman’s argument was that neither fighter has yet produced the type of victory that removes all doubt about where they belong among boxing’s elite.

Saturday’s fight gives Ennis a chance to answer the question Kellerman raised. The talent has rarely been in doubt. What Ennis needs now is the type of defining victory that validates the hype and establishes him as the fighter many believe he can become.

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