Notebook: Ennis aims to go from prospect to contender with win over Lipinets

Vlasov shakes off Covid-19; Munguia-Ballard set; Quick hits

Philadelphia welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis was the 2020 prospect of the year and can stamp himself a bona fide contender with a win over well-regarded former junior welterweight world titlist Sergey Lipinets.

They meet in the 12-round main event of a Showtime-televised tripleheader Saturday (9 p.m. ET) inside the bubble of Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.

“After I do my thing on Saturday night and I do it with a big statement, it’s only up from there,” Ennis said this week. “On to bigger and better things — the elite fighters and the top three guys, and then maybe a world title by the end of the year. This fight is just going to elevate my ranking, my superstardom and it will be the start of me being (an eventual) pay-per-view star.”

It has been a struggle for Ennis (26-0, 24 KOs), 23, to get quality opponents to agree to fight him until finally the battle-tested Lipinets, whose only defeat came by decision when he lost his world title to Mikey Garcia in 2018, agreed.

“These are the types of fights I’ve been waiting for,” Ennis said. “This is the guy that’s going to take me to the next level because he has a good name and he was a former world champion at 140 pounds. After this, without looking past Sergey Lipinets, I feel like I’m ready for a top five or top three guy and then a world title at the end of the year. If any of the top guys need a dance partner, they can just call.

“I’ve been trying to get these types of guys in the ring for about 2½ years. I’ve been trying to get former world champions and top 10 guys. It just didn’t happen. I finally got my chance and you guys are going to see a whole different animal. A whole different beast. It’s time for me to do my thing. I’m real excited.”

Ennis said he is expecting an impressive victory.

“Everybody knows my style. I’m in and out like a robbery,” he said. “The main goal is to be smart, go in there and win in dominating fashion. If the knockout comes, it comes. But the goal is to look good, put on a beautiful performance and get the knockout at the end of the night.

“His style is tailor-made for me. Him coming forward is picture-perfect for me. He’s going to be running into shots all night long. It’s going to be a long night for him.”

After losing to Garcia, Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 KOs), 31, a Kazakhstan native fighting out of Woodland Hills, California, moved up to welterweight and is 3-0-1 since, including a majority draw with unbeaten Custio Clayton in October.

Lipinets draws his confidence from the superior competition he has boxed.

“I think the opposition that I’ve faced is definitely better than what Ennis has faced. I went 12 rounds with Mikey Garcia and I faced a two-time champion in Lamont Peterson,” Lipinets said of an action-packed 10th-round knockout win that sent Peterson into retirement in 2019. “Those guys have pushed me to the edge before. Ennis has more pro fights than I do; he just hasn’t been pushed in the same way in his fights.

“The main thing I learned from my last fight is to not depend on the judges. I know that we’re both coming to knock each other out. That’s what makes for an attractive fight. We’re hunting for opportunities to hurt him. Ennis is young and up-and-coming fighter. All we want is a shot at the title and everything that comes with it. A win in this fight will give us all of that. I want to get my crack at the big dogs in the division.”

Also on the card

• Welterweight prospect Eimantas Stanionis (12-0, 9 KOs), 26, a 2016 Lithuanian Olympian, will take a big step up in competition against former world title challenger Thomas Dulorme (25-4-1, 16 KOs), 31, of Puerto Rico, in a title eliminator.

• Junior bantamweight world titlist Jerwin Ancajas (32-1-2, 22 KOs), 29, a southpaw from the Philippines and a Manny Pacquiao protégé, will make his ninth defense in a long-delayed mandatory fight against Jonathan Javier Rodriguez (22-1, 16 KOs), 25, of Mexico.

Vlasov over Covid-19

Light heavyweight contender Maxim Vlasov was ready to face Joe Smith Jr. at their pre-fight news conference on Feb. 11 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas but Vlasov tested positive for Covid-19 and his fight with Smith for the vacant WBO title scheduled for Feb. 13 was called off.

The fight was rescheduled and will take place on Saturday (ESPN/ESPN Deportes/ESPN+, 10 p.m. ET) at Osage Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Vlasov (45-3, 26 KOs), 34, of Russia, claims he is good to go for the delayed fight with Smith (26-3, 21 KOs), 31, of Mastic, New York on Long Island.

“I’m sure that you will see no ring rust at all this time,” Vlasov said on Thursday. “I’ve been preparing well. I’ve been sharpening my skills, and I’m ready to give it my all, 100 percent.

“I feel the same as a younger boxer who is less experienced because this is a great chance for me. This is a great responsibility, a great risk. I am very excited and motivated for this fight. I have taken preparation seriously, watched many of his fights, and learned some things. I don’t like to talk about his weakest or strongest points or divulge any strategies or plans related to the fight.”

The fight will be Vlasov’s second opportunity to fight for a world title. In 2018, he moved up to cruiserweight for a shot at Krzysztof Glowacki’s title but lost a unanimous decision in the World Boxing Super Series.

The Smith-Vlasov winner not only will claim the 175-pound vacated by Canelo Alvarez but set himself up for a three-belt unification fight with two-belt world champion Artur Beterbiev (16-0, 16 KOs) later this year.

Munguia now facing Ballard

As expected, Mexican middleweight contender Jaime Munguia (36-0, 29 KOs), 24, a former junior middleweight titlist, will face replacement foe and fellow Golden Boy Promotions fighter D’Mitrius Ballard (20-0-1, 13 KOs), 28, of Temple Hills, Maryland, in a 12-rounder that was finalized on Thursday.

The fight will headline on DAZN on April 23 (6 p.m. ET) at the Don Haskins Center on the campus of the University of Texas at El Paso.

Munguia was scheduled to face Maciej Sulecki (29-2, 11 KOs) on April 24, but Sulecki suffered a back injury and withdrew this week. Golden Boy proposed Ballard as the replacement and DAZN signed off on it on Thursday.

“These things happen in boxing, and I’ve always had the mentality that I have to be prepared for any opponent,” Munguia said. “I know that D’Mitrius Ballard is a great fighter with a lot of experience as an amateur and a professional, so I expect to deliver a great fight to get even closer to the world title opportunity.”

Because of the new opponent, the show was shifted from an afternoon start on Saturday, April 24, when it would have aired in the evening in Sulecki’s native Poland, where he is a draw, to Friday night, April 23. By going on a Friday evening, Golden Boy has a better chance to sell tickets than it did for an afternoon show. There was no desire to move to Saturday night with competition from an ESPN card.

“D’Mitrius Ballard has been deserving of an opportunity like this for a while now,” Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya said. “This is the chance to finally demonstrate to the world that he’s ready for the top guys in the division. We wish Maciej Sulecki a quick recovery, but we also we want to emphasize that Ballard is no mere replacement. He’s a real threat.”

Ballard is coming off a majority draw against 2012 Brazilian Olympic bronze medalist Yamaguchi Falcao in December 2019 and anxious to face Munguia.

“I feel very fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to fight against Jaime Munguia,” he said. “I feel extremely blessed especially because of the condition the world is now in with COVID-19 and all the issues we are facing. This is the perfect opportunity to really showcase who D’Mitrius Ballard is and demonstrate my boxing abilities. I’m going to use this fight to re-introduce myself to the world.”

Rare kind of fight

A fight between up-and-coming American heavyweights is a rare thing, but that is what Ring City USA has in store for the main event of the NBC Sports Network series on April 22 when Jermaine Franklin (20-0, 13 KOs) and Stephan Shaw (14-0, 10 KOs) meet in a 10-rounder. They have shown promise as pros and will meet to find who can take a big step forward in the high-risk fight. American heavyweights on the rise fighting each other simply does not happen often. How rare is it? Find out by reading my latest Ring City USA column here: https://mailchi.mp/66d7dd489e2f/boxings-main-attractions-5231336?e=1cca2f980b

Quick hits

The WBA has ordered unified junior featherweight titlist Murodjon Akhmadaliev to next face mandatory challenger Ronny Rios. The WBA notified both camps and gave them until May 6 to make a deal or a purse bid will be ordered. Akhmadaliev (9-0, 7 KOs), 26, of Uzbekistan, defended his belts for the first time by knocking out IBF mandatory challenger Ryosuke Iwasa in the fifth round of a homecoming fight last Saturday. Rios (33-3, 16 KOs), 31, of Santa Ana, California, winner of four fights in a row, had a WBC title shot in 2017 but lost a decision to Rey Vargas.

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Ring City USA on Thursday announced a pair of bouts for the undercard of the show on April 22 (NBC Sports Net, 9 p.m. ET). Women’s featherweight world titlist Jelena Mrjdenovich (41-10-2, 19 KOs), 38, of Edmonton, Canada, will defend against southpaw Erika Cruz Hernandez (12-1-0, 3 KOs), 30, of Mexico, in the co-feature. Junior welterweight Jonathan Navarro (17-0, 9 KOs), 24, of East Los Angeles, who is trained by Robert Garcia, will end a 17-month layoff against Juan Pablo Romero (13-0, 9 KOs), 31, of Mexico, in the 10-round opener. The card, which will be the first pro show to be held at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York, is headlined by the previously announced 10-rounder between heavyweight up-and-comers Jermaine Franklin and Stephan Shaw.

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Flyweight Jay Harris (18-1, 9 KOs), 30 of Wales, will face Ricardo Sandoval (18-1, 13 KOs), 22, of Montclair, California, in an IBF title eliminator in the main event of an MTK Global card May 14 (ESPN+) at the University of Bolton Stadium in Bolton, England, MTK announced Thursday. Harris has won his only fight since losing an action-packed challenge to flyweight world titlist Julio Cesar Martinez in February 2020. Sandoval has scored knockouts in his last five fights but is taking a step up in competition. The winner becomes mandatory for the winner of the bout between world titlist Moruti Mthalane and Sunny Edwards, who meet April 30 in London.

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Top Rank middleweight prospect Troy Isley (1-0), 22, of Alexandria, Virginia, suffered a hand injury and has withdrawn from a four-rounder against LaQuan Evans scheduled for the Joe Smith Jr.-Maxim Vlasov undercard on Saturday.

Show and tell

Two fights earlier Floyd Mayweather battered Arturo Gatti in a one-sided stoppage to claim a junior welterweight world title and then moved up to welterweight and similarly destroyed Sharmba Mitchell. That set the stage for Mayweather to challenge for a title in his fourth division against one-time close pal Zab Judah, with whom he had a falling out, leading to the fight being dubbed “Sworn Enemies” by co-promoters Bob Arum of Top Rank and Don King, who were working together on a fight for the first time in ages. Judah was the unified champion until losing by massive upset decision to Carlos Baldomir in his previous fight, but this being boxing, Judah came into the Mayweather fight still as IBF titlist because that belt was not put at stake against Baldomir, something that wasn’t disclosed prior to their bout.

Nonetheless, Mayweather-Judah was a big-time HBO PPV and early on it looked like Judah might get the job done. He gave Mayweather problems in the first four rounds and even knocked Mayweather down, although referee Richard Steele missed it. Mayweather soon figured Judah out and delivered a beating for most of the rest of the fight, which included a near-riot in the waning seconds of the 10th round when trainer Roger Mayweather entered the ring to confront Judah, who had badly fouled Floyd with a low blow and punch to the back of the head. I was a few feet from the ring and we were moments away from a very bad situation. But police did a superb job of quickly getting things under control. The fight resumed and Mayweather cruised to the end for the clear win, which took place at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on April 8, 2006 — 15 years ago on Thursday. Of course, I have every credential from every fight I have ever covered, including from Mayweather-Judah.

Ennis photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime; Smith-Vlasov photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank