Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, IBF welterweight champion, looked nervous during today’s first face-off with his replacement opponent David Avanesyan for their fight this Saturday night on July 13th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Boots Ennis’s Unease
Ennis looked drained today and looked worried during his fight with 35-year-old power puncher Avanesyan. It’s a dangerous fight for Boots because Avanesyan has better power than anyone he’s faced and a different style than the guys he’s become accustomed to fighting.
The two fighters still have the final press conference this Thursday, July 11th, and the weigh-in on Friday ahead of their clash on DAZN on Saturday night.
What’s interesting is that Boots Ennis’s new promoters at Matchroom Boxing haven’t heavily promoted the match despite Eddie Hearn being excited about signing the welterweight phenom.
To build the 27-year-old Ennis into a huge star, Hearn will need to work to market him to casual boxing fans who aren’t familiar with the young fighter yet.
If Boots is drained from overtraining or weight loss, Avanesyan could make him pay by taking the fight into the later rounds and pulling off an upset. That would be Hearn’s second consecutive recent signee, who has immediately lost.
“That’s an interesting fight. You favor Ennis. He’s been looking special. This fight is not being promoted the way it’s been deserving to be, but I don’t know,” said Paulie Malignaggi on Paulie TV, talking about this Saturday’s main event between IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and David Avanesyan in Philadelphia.
“We’ll see what Avanesyan has left because he’s a guy that typically pushes you a little bit,” said Paulie.
The Outcome Remains Uncertain
Avanesyan has a reputation for pushing his opponents and being tough. Even in his loss to Terence Crawford on December 10th, 2022, he hit him with some massive shots, but the Nebraska native took them and came back to score a one-punch knockout in the sixth.
It was more of a case of being a punch that Avanesyan didn’t see. There were issues with Crawford’s gloves, which Avanesyan is still unhappy about.
“He typically is not able to win at this level, although he’s got a couple of upsets. He does push you. I’m curious to see how Ennis looks, and I’m curious to see what Avanesyan has left,” said Malignaggi.
Avanesyan has only lost against one really good fighter during his career. His other defeats came against Lamont Peterson and Egidijus Kavaliauskas. The power that Avanesyan possesses makes him a threat to Ennis if he can stay in long enough to connect with some good shots.
“Who knows? After the stoppage Crawford had on Avanesyan, maybe the chin is dented, and you’re not the same after knockouts like that,” said Malignaggi when asked if Avanesyan has a chance against Boots Ennis on Saturday night.
You can dismiss the Crawford loss because of his gloves, but the real problem is Avanesyan being out of the ring for nearly two years. That’s more of an issue, and whether he is still motivated to keep fighting is questionable.
“Avanesyan was really sturdy against tough, hard-punching welterweights. Kerman was almost all knockout wins, and Avanesyan went through him and stopped him [twice]. So, like I said, we’ll see what Avanesyan has left,” said Malignaggi.
Avanesyan’s Power
When Avanesyan knocked out Lejarraga for the first time in March 2019, that was considered an upset in the minds of many boxing fans because they felt he would lose. But then, when Avanesyan stopped Lejarraga for the second time in September 2019 with a first-round knockout, it showed that he was for real.
“If there’s anything left in Avanesyan, I would certainly be curious to see how Ennis will be able to handle him. We really don’t know. We’ll see,” said Malignaggi.
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