Jaron Ennis is looking for a bigger test in the form of Terence Crawford after his dominant fifth-round stoppage over David Avanesyan.
Ennis packed out the Wells Fargo Centre last night [July 13] in his first fight back in Philadelphia since being elevated to IBF world champion. The fighter delivered a standout performance to the record-breaking crowd and forced Avanesyan’s corner to pull their man out after the fifth round. The fight marked Ennis’ first contest with Matchroom Boxing, and now he has entrusted Eddie Hearn to bring him to the top fighters in the welterweight division.
One fighter who seems to always be mentioned alongside that of Ennis is the former undisputed welterweight champion, Terrence Crawford. Ennis was the mandatory challenger for Crawford’s IBF title, but the champion chose to make a move up to junior middleweight rather than face the young challenger. Ennis is now looking at facing Crawford and gaining the four other welterweight titles he currently holds and insisted that after a year out of the ring, he is now ready to showcase his skills against the top fighters of the division.
“Sign the contract,” said Ennis. “If Crawford wanted to fight, he would have stayed at 147. He already said he wants to move up and be undisputed at 154.
“I don’t care [who I fight],” he added. “I just want to fight the top guys, they will bring the best out of me. When you fight someone who’s sharp just like you, it makes you better. Who knows, the fight could be easier when you fight someone on your level or who’s supposed to be above your level. I feel like I can be phenomenal, I was off for a year, and I feel like I’ve got so many more tools in my arsenal. I just got the opportunity to show it against a top guy.”
Ennis’ performance came under criticism from Crawford online, with the fighter questioning if he was really world-class. Ennis may have delivered a brutal fourth and fifth rounds to finish the fight, but he was getting caught early on by Avanesyan. The fighter, however, was not worried about his errors early in the contest and insisted that in his next fight he would be more switched on.
“[Avanesyan] was moving a lot more than I was expecting him to move,” Ennis said. “I thought he was going to come forward a little more. My timing was a little off, I saw everything, but my timing was just off a little bit. Everything will be good, next time I’ll be better, a little sharper.”
Ennis was landing big shots throughout the contest to the head and body of Avanesyan, causing swelling to the Russian’s face. Avanesyan seemed to be an unmovable object at first, coming back with punches and refusing to wilt. Ennis, however, was always confident that he would get the stoppage and after advice from his father in the corner, was able to put on a show in rounds four and five to end the fight.
“I knew I was going to stop him,” said Ennis. “Every round I could feel him breaking down and decreasing, but I definitely knew I was going to stop him, it was just a matter of time. When I got back to the corner my Pops was just saying, ‘Have fun a little bit, don’t look for it.’ I wasn’t looking for it, I was chilling, just trying to find my groove. I started having fun in the fourth and fifth rounds, then I ended up catching him in the fifth – and that’s all she wrote.”
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