ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – Jaron Ennis seemed somewhat amused when some of Roiman Villa’s comments were translated into English during their press conference Thursday at Showboat.
Ennis is sure, however, that Venezuela’s Villa will realize relatively quickly Saturday night that he made a mistake by insisting on fighting the IBF interim welterweight champion in the fight after Villa upset Rashidi Ellis on January 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Ukrainian underdog Karen Chukhadzhian halted Ennis’ 19-bout knockout streak in the fight after Villa edged Ellis by majority decision on the Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia undercard, yet the confident Philadelphia native envisions viciously assaulting Villa in their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event at Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Theater (9:30 p.m. EDT; 6:30 p.m. PDT).
“We gonna have some fun,” Ennis told BoxingScene.com. “We gonna shine. We gonna get a stoppage on Saturday night, you know, a legendary performance by me. You know, I can’t wait to shine in front of my friends and family, you know, beat him up, break him down. I really want his team to stop it. Like, I really wanna put one of those performances on. I wanna beat him up bad.”
Ennis endured some criticism after Chukhadzhian took him 12 rounds for the first time in Ennis’ seven-year professional career. The crafty Chukhadzhian didn’t win a single round on any of the three scorecards, but he produced a victory of sorts by avoiding a knockout against the diverse, explosive Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs, 1 NC).
The always-aggressive Villa (26-1, 24 KOs) figures to be a much more stationary target for Ennis, who admits to pressing for a knockout while at times chasing Chukhadzhian around the ring six months ago. Before he boxed Chukhadzhian, Ennis hadn’t gone the distance in a fight since he beat James Winchester (then 20-12) by unanimous decision in a six-rounder that took place in March 2017 at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
“I just wanna look great,” Ennis said. “And I feel like beatin’ somebody up, you know, and beatin’ him bad and makin’ they team throw in the towel or stoppin’ the fight, I feel like that’s kinda like better than a knockout sometimes. But whatever comes first – whether it’s a knockout or whether it’s me stoppin’ him with an accumulation of punches or the ref stoppin’ it, or his team throwin’ in the towel, the commission throwin’ in the towel, anything, I wanna look good and put on a legendary performance. That’s my goal for Saturday night.”
Villa has lost only a 12-round split decision to Marcos Villasana, who was 23-6 entering their fight four years ago. The 30-year-old contender has won seven consecutive fights since Villasana beat him, including back-to-back victories over previously undefeated fighters in Ellis (24-1, 15 KOs) and Janelson Bocachica (17-1-1, 11 KOs) in his last two fights.
Ennis expects to exploit Villa’s defensive flaws, though, throughout a fight in which Ennis is listed as a 12-1 favorite by most reputable sportsbooks.
“He’s a pressure fighter,” said Ennis, who will make the first defense of the IBF interim welterweight title he won when he beat Chukhadzhian. “He come forward, no defense, doesn’t jab, wild hooks. He only know one way. He don’t go backwards, so his style is tailor-made for me. And I feel like it’s gonna be fireworks. I’m gonna give him everything he lookin’ for. We gonna have some fun.”
The 26-year-old Ennis doesn’t think Villa would’ve agreed to fight him had Ennis not been taken 12 rounds by Chukhadzhian, who utilizes an entirely different style than the rugged Villa. Ennis credited Chukhadzhian for his effort, even though he seemed reluctant to engage with Ennis for most of their fight.
“He fought good,” Ennis said. “You know, he was tryin’ to box and move, and tryin’ to like counter and things like that. He did a good job, but it wasn’t enough. You know, I won every round, 12-0, but he did a good job, though.”
Had he approached Chukhadzhian in a more calculated fashion, Ennis sensed he could’ve become the first opponent to stop Chukhadzhian (22-2, 12 KOs) inside the distance.
“There’s a lotta things I coulda did better,” Ennis said. “And I feel like if I woulda listened a little more [to father/trainer ‘Bozy’ Ennis], and stayed behind my jab and cut the ring off a little bit more and touched that body earlier, I probably woulda got a stoppage. But, you know, it comes with the game. It’s a learning experience and I’m glad I went 12 rounds. You know, and hopefully these guys, they’ll come and wanna fight me now, they go ahead and fall for that trap.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.