Thanks to Hearn, Ennis ready to shine in Philly homecoming
'Boots' defends IBF welterweight title vs. Avanesyan as he kicks off next chapter of career with Matchroom Boxing
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Those who follow boxing closely have known for years that Jaron ”Boots” Ennis is one of the most talented fighters in the sport.
What he lacked, however, was a machine behind him to truly promote him, to let the masses know all about him, and to do something that inexplicably had not been done at all since he became a contender and eventually claimed a world title.
It was to fish where the fish are. It was to bring him home to fight in front of his fans in Philadelphia, a city long known for churning out talented boxers.
Ennis had been with Showtime, whose partner, Premier Boxing Champions, put him on its cards. But nobody was going out their way to really get behind him. After Cameron Dunkin, Ennis’ nominal promoter, died in January, he eventually settled his contract with the estate and became a free agent.
That led him to a deal with Matchroom Boxing’s Eddie Hearn, who made one of the least complicated decisions of all time — to arrange for his first IBF welterweight title defense to be in Philadelphia. Ennis has wanted to fight at home, where he has not performed since 2018, before he emerged as a 147-pound contender.
On Saturday night, Ennis will get his wish when makes his inaugural defense against former title challenger David Avanesyan in the Matchroom Boxing main event on DAZN (8 p.m. ET) at the Wells Fargo Center.
Hearn didn’t set up the fight for a small hall or ballroom. He went for the biggest arena in the city, the same venue where its NBA and NHL franchises play. And he has promoted the hell out of the event, which apparently will pay off with the largest crowd for a fight in the city in nearly 50 years.
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“I can’t wait,” Hearn said. “The entire bottom tier is now sold out. It’s the biggest fight night in Philly since Marvin Hagler versus Benny Briscoe (drew 14,930 to the Spectrum) some 45 years ago (in 1978) as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Philadelphia’s own ‘Boots’ Ennis will light up this place with a huge crowd. Between 13 and 14,000, maybe even more expected.”
Ennis couldn’t be happier. It is exactly what he has wanted. He said he dreamed about fighting in the Wells Fargo Center and drawing a big crowd for a world fight. Dreams do come true.
“It’s a very big deal,” Ennis told Fight Freaks Unite. “It’s a blessing to be able to fight at the Wells Fargo Center. It’s gonna feel amazing. It’s going to be everything. Everything I’ve dreamed of. I can’t wait. I’m ready. I’m excited.”
Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs), 27, won the vacant interim IBF belt by shutout decision over Karen Chukhadzhian in January 2023 and made one defense, a one-sided 10th-round decision over Roiman Villa last July in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
So, he will come off the year layoff caused in part due Showtime’s exit from boxing at the end of 2023 and the time it took to settle with Dunkin’s estate. During the layoff, he was upgraded to full titleholder when then-undisputed champion Terence Crawford declined to make a due mandatory defense against Ennis and was stripped as he pursued other fights.
Naturally, Ennis would have preferred to get the title by beating Crawford, but that was out of his hands with Crawford leaving the division.
“I mean, you always want to take the belt from a champion. That was the goal, to take the belt from the champion,” Ennis said. “I’d feel better like that, but there was nothing I could do. It was out of my control.”
He was due to face unbeaten mandatory challenger Cody Crowley and they had announced the fight and had a news conference. But Crowley was forced out of the bout about a month ago because he was not medically cleared following eye surgery that may end his career. Avanesyan, a vastly experienced fighter, who has faced quality opposition, got the call.
The change of opponent was no big deal, Ennis said.
“It’s all the same to me. I’m just glad to be back in the ring, glad to be able to fight,” Ennis said. “I didn’t care who they found. I just wanted to be able to fight in front of my friends and family and put on a beautiful show and get the knockout. I didn’t really care who it was.”
Avanesyan (30-4-1, 18 KOs), a Russian-born Armenian, who fights out of England, is best known for a unanimous decision win for the WBA interim welterweight title against Hall of Famer Shane Mosley and sending him into retirement in 2016.
Some of what Avanesyan has done since then includes losing a decision to Lamont Peterson in a world title fight; scoring two upset knockouts of Kerman Lejarraga on his turf in Spain in 2019; scoring another upset knockout of then-unbeaten Brit Josh Kelly in 2021; and getting brutally knocked out by Crawford, who made an Omaha, Nebraska, hometown title defense against him December 2022. Avanesyan has won his only fight since.
“He kind of fights like my last opponent, like Villa,” Ennis said. “He’s just not as big. Puts pressure, that’s it. Right in front of you, don’t move his head. It’s gonna be a long night for him. It’s gonna be a long but short night if you get what I’m saying. I’m definitely not taking him lightly at all. I’m going in there to put on a show, have fun, be smart, take my time, beat him up, break him down and put on a beautiful show.
“Get him out of the way and I’m victorious, then (on to) bigger and better things. Until then my main focus is beating David Avanesyan.”
Ennis is a heavy favorite, as he would be against probably anybody in the division. But a win will kick off the next chapter of his career with Matchroom Boxing and get a defense in the books as he looks for much bigger fights, which he expects Hearn will be able to deliver. It is why he opted to sign with him.
“I just went with what was best for my career,” Ennis said of deciding to sign with Matchroom Boxing. “I like to stay active, and that’s my whole thing. Stay active, stay busy, stay sharp. I just like the way that Eddie moves his guys. They fight frequently. Keep active. Keep sharp. My main goal is to be undisputed at 147. After this fight I want to collect the rest of the belts, then move up to ‘54 and do the same thing at ‘54. Then ‘60, then ’68, maybe ‘68.”
If Ennis does his job and keeps shining, Hearn promises to do his, including making his hometown something of a fortress for the city’s top current fighter.
“This city is littered with boxing history,” Hearn said of Philadelphia. “It’s a great, great fight city, and now you have big time boxing back in Philadelphia and a young man that we believe can headline this place for many, many years to come.”
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Photos: Amanda Westcott/Matchroom Boxing
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because promoting boxers has become a game of "the most money right NOW" there are fewer opportunities to actually build and grow a fighter's profile. Promoters get skewered if they even consider taking less money for a better opportunity, or fighters price themselves out, so hometown fights rarely happen for fighters that don't live in boxing hubs. Though Boots isn't sacrificing a bigger fight to make this happen (he doesn't have access to one), it would be cheaper to just put this on in a ballroom in Atlantic City, but Eddie works this way, and it's smart and hopefully catches on. Unfortunately for Matchroom, the last couple of times they tried this (Regis in New Orleans and matias in Puerto Rico), the hometown guy laid an egg. Not expecting that with Boots.