IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis fights for the first time under his new contract with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing this Saturday, July 13th, live on DAZN at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia against veteran David Avanesyan.
Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) has been away from fighting in his hometown of Philadelphia for six years since his second-round knockout of Raymond Serrano in November 2018.
A Year-Long Layoff For Boots
Boots has been inactive for twelve months since his grueling tenth-round knockout win over Roiman Villa on July 8th, 2023. That leaves doubts about how well the now 27-year-old Ennis will perform, especially with him going up against a power puncher like Avanesyan (30-4-11, 18 KOs), easily the hardest-hitter Boots will have faced during his eight-year career.
Ennis got hit a lot by Villa but was eventually about to score a tenth-round knockout in a classic war. That type of fight could be detrimental to Boots if he does it against Avanesyan, but he has no choice.
To become a PPV attraction, Boots Ennis must trade with Avanesyan in the center of the ring, not back up, play it safe, and get a knockout. Ennis has been out of the ring for too long. He must get in the trenches and obliterate Avanesyan.
Terence Crawford knocked Avanesyan out in the sixth round on December 10, 2022. So, the goal for Boots should be to stop Avanesyan well before the sixth round because fans will compare him unfavorably to the Nebraska native if he can’t do a better job of dispatching him.
Avanesyan: A Proven KO Artist
Avanesysan has always been a big Puncher; his ring record shows that. He blasted out six of his previous opponents before losing to Crawford in 2022. Many of those knockouts came early on, showing his kind of power.
Watching Avanesyan work out on the mitts, you can see how hard he hits, and he can generate a lot of power in punches thrown from close range. He’s got that Artur Beterbiev ability of getting maximum power on punches thrown at close, which makes him dangerous.
Many fighters feel safe when they’re on the inside with their opponents, but you can’t do that against Avanesyan without putting yourself at risk.
It’s going to be a test of Ennis’ chin to see if he can withstand Avanesyan’s offensive arsenal on Saturday night. If Boots gets into a firefight with Avanesyan, which he must do to become a star to please the fans, he’ll need a good chin to take the shots from the Russian.
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