Patience has been asked of Jaron Ennis. And while he’s been reluctant, he’s closed his mouth, gnashed his teeth, and shown restraint. His frustrations might be at an all-time high, but the 25-year-old has spent his time building his name on the carcasses of numerous welterweight contenders.
But regardless of the Philadelphia native scoring countless highlight-reel-worthy knockouts and despite having watched his name move steadily up the 147-pound ranks, Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs) hasn’t been able to secure a world title shot.
To a large extent, Ennis has done his very best to lock in a showdown against one of the division’s two biggest stars, WBO titlist Terence Crawford and unified champion, Errol Spence Jr. Those two, however, after years of blaming one another for protracting contract negotiations, have recently agreed to meet up in an undisputed showdown on July 29th.
Whomever emerges from their clash as the winner, a move up in weight is very much expected. Still, whether it’s a trip to the junior middleweight division, the land of the middleweights, or even a bit higher up, Ennis reveals that he’ll throw on his hiking boots and make the climb with them.
“It don’t matter where they at,” said Ennis to YSM Sports Media. “They could be at 60, 68. It don’t matter. They gotta see me.”
As both Spence and Crawford battle it out for bragging rights and all of the welterweight championship hardware, Ennis will look to re-establish his stock against Roiman Villa on July 8th. Just a few months prior, Ennis, who normally treats his opponents to a dirt nap, was forced to go 12 full rounds for the first time in his career against Karen Chukhadzhian. Villa, unlike Chukhadzhian, figures to be directly in front of Ennis, leaving him susceptible to his pernicious offensive arsenal.
With his level of competition rising, Ennis is aware that his naysayers will question whether or not he can raise his game to another level. Those inquiries, nevertheless, hold no merit according to Ennis. When the time is right and he’s asked to pull more tools from his toolbox, the rapidly rising star reveals that fans will be shell-shocked by the tricks he has up his sleeves.
“When I fight somebody that’s good like me, y’all gonna see a whole different me. It’s gonna be easier, I’m gonna be sharper.”