After all the talking, indeed, after all the boasting about how he is going to be a “beast” at his new fighting weight of 154 pounds, this where Jaron Ennis says he will “knock them all out, one by one” — the pressure is well and truly on for “Boots” to back up his big talk. To deliver. This Saturday night in his hometown of Philadelphia, former welterweight titlist Ennis will get his ’54 show on the road.
No, Ennis’s maiden dance partner at ’54 is no big name, he’s not even a familiar name, but Angola’s Uisma Lima, 14-1(10) is a tough hombre who has never been stopped, who has fought on the road, and who is hungry, as in hungry to upset Ennis and all his lofty plans. We could get a very interesting fight on Saturday, maybe an exciting fight.
Can “Boots” Ennis Make A Statement In His Super-Welterweight Debut?
28 year old Ennis, though, has to look good, he has to shine. A laboured points win, for example, would not be anywhere near enough. Having left the 147 pound division behind, partly due to the draining effort that was required on his part to make the weight, “Boots” says he will be almost twice as good, twice as effective a fighter now that he will no longer be operating at “60 percent” the way he was down at welter.
If this proves to be the case, then look out each and every ’54 pound name that is in Ennis’s cross-hairs. The fight we really want, is of course Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz, and the word is that fight has been agreed by all parties (this of course reliant on Ennis winning on Saturday, and Ortiz beating Erickson Lubin in his November return following injury).
The Ortiz Showdown Looms — But First, Lima Awaits
The winner of that fight (or fights, as we could see two, maybe even three battles between Ortiz and Ennis if the first fight is as great as plenty of us think it will be), will have a great chance to go on to enjoy real stardom, maybe even superstardom. And this is what Ennis is aiming for, it’s what he’s talking about.
Ennis fought twice this year, and he will almost certainly box just two times this year, too. But next year, after a smashing, send-everyone-home-talking-about-him ’54 pound debut on Saturday, “Boots” should be far more active, with the big fights hopefully coming.
Now, can Ennis stop 32 year old Lima, or will a wide decision see “Boots” to victory? Again, will anything but a highlight reel KO be enough for the critics?
