Philly’s Jaron “Boots” Ennis the top prospect from Philly since 1984 Olympic Gold Medalist and later world professional champion Meldrick Taylor increased his unbeaten record to 26-0 with 24 knockouts on Saturday. It was his sixteenth consecutive stoppage.
Ennis had this to say “Thanking God for another one. I couldn’t have done it without him. Great win last night. I felt great. I had a lot of fun last night, 26-0 (24 ko’s). It felt great being back. I definitely can’t wait to get back in there, 27-0 with 25 knockouts coming soon!”
On Saturday Ennis stopped Dominican Juan “Merengue” Carlos Abreu, now 23-6-1 (21), who lost by stoppage for the first time. Ennis won every round before the stoppage at 1:06 of the sixth round. Ennis scored three knockdowns before the stoppage.
Ennis is currently ranked No. 15 WBC and IBO, No. 12 IBF and No. 11 WBO and having a problem getting the contenders to agree to fight him. The WBA seems to need a “wake up call” in this writers opinion. When he was No. 1 USBA no contenders would fight him for the vacant title so two others were picked and rewarded with a spot in the IBF’s top 15. He is co-managed by his father who is trainer-teacher Derrick “Bozy” Ennis, the top trainer not only in Philly but one of the best in the world.
The other co-manager for Ennis is Cameron Dunkin (formerly with Crawford) who both co-managers are in a dispute with promoter Chris Middendorf who has been with Ennis from the first fight of his career until his last fight. This should be resolved in the next month or two. Who Ennis signs with as his promoter should then be considered though at the pace he’s going with Showtime the longer he waits the more he can expect in return. Of course with every fight a loss would jeopardize that. His next fight should be before the year is out.
Ennis, a 2015 Olympic alternate, who was 58-3 in the amateurs, trains at the Philly One Boxing Gym at 4301 Paul Street in North Philly. In a recent interview on Brawlers Sports Media Ennis had this to say:
I was trying to not get hit. I watched the fight twice and give myself a D, D-. You haven’t seen anything yet! I was in there just having my fun until my Pop said go in there and finish him. We knew he was concentrating on one big shot, one big right hand. I just wanted to touch him everywhere. I can’t wait to get my opportunity (title fight). I think I will get my shot in 2021. I’m coming and I can’t wait to get my shot at those guys (organizations champions). I train hard for every fight. My dad has trained me to train hard even if it’s against a 0-10 guy. Anything can happen. You have to respect the game. Some guys gain 20 pounds between fights. Boxing is a dangerous sport period. You don’t hear about MMA or UFC guys dying in the ring. I can’t wait (title fight).
This writer has covered Ennis even prior to turning professional working through his dad “Bozy”.
At this point of his career being ranked highest at No. 11 in the WBO, a future fight against Terence “Bud” Crawford may be the first title shot Ennis gets! What a match-up that would be in 2021.