By Ian S Palmer
Unbeaten Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania defends his interim IBF Welterweight Title this Saturday, July 8th when he clashes with the hard-hitting Roiman Villa of Venezuela. The 12-rounder from Atlantic City, New Jersey can be seen live in America on Showtime. Ennis last fought in January when he shutout Karen Chukhadzhian over 12 rounds to win the interim belt. Villa last boxed in January when he beat Rashidi Ellis by 12-round majority decision.
Ennis is a fine 26-year-old prospect who enters the ring with a perfect mark of 30-0 with 27 Ko’s and obviously has a lot of pop in his punches with a current knockout ratio of 87.1 per cent. The only three men to take him the distance were Eddie Diaz who went four rounds in 2016, James Winchester, who took him six rounds the following year and Chukhadzhian in his last outing in January. Ennis stands 5-feet-10-inches tall with a 74-inch wingspan and has boxed just 91 rounds in his 30 fights since making his pro debut back in 2016.
He started boxing at the age of 15 and enjoyed a superb amateur career with a reported mark of 58-3. Ennis was a 2014 US National Golden Gloves Silver medalist in Las Vegas; a 2015 USA Youth National Championships Gold medalist in Reno; a 2015 US National Golden Gloves Tournament Gold medalist in Las Vegas; a 2015 US Olympic Trials Qualifier Gold medalist in Baltimore and a 2015 US Olympic Trials participant in Reno.
In 2018 he won the vacant WBC (USNBC) Silver Welterweight Title with a third-round stoppage over Armando Alvarez. As a pro, Ennis has also beaten the likes of Thomas Dulorme, Sergey Lipinets, Elvin Perez, James Winchester, Wilfredo Acuna, Mike Arnaoutis, and Juan Carlos Abreu. His bout with Chris van Heerden in 2020 was called a no-decision when Van Heerden was cut in the first round from an accidental clash of heads.
Villa is 30 years of age and carries around a fine mark of 26-1 with 124 Ko’s and has only 87 rounds of experience under his belt since making his pro debut in 2015. He measures 5-feet-7-inches tall with a 70-inch reach, so gives up just three inches in height to Ennis along with four inches in reach. When it comes to power, Villa also possesses quite a bit of it with a current knockout ratio of 89 per cent. He’s been the distance just twice in winning causes and they came in his last two fights, which were wins over Rashidi Ellis and and eight-round unanimous decision over Janelson Figueroa Bocachica after dropping him in round two.
Villa started his career in fine fashion by going 19-0 with 19 Ko’s, but be aware that just six of those 19 opponents climbed through the ropes with a winning record. Villas’s lone defeat came in his 20th fight when he dropped a 12-round split decision to Marcos Villasana in April, 2019. Since then, villa has won seven straight fights with five of them coming by way of stoppage. He won the Venezuelan Super Lightweight Title in 2018 when he halted Derwin Medina in just 95 seconds in 2018. Villa also has wins against Luis Ernesto Jose, Carlos Saenz, Nestor Armas, Miguel Parra and Jesus Bravo.
Prediction…
Ennis has plenty boxing skills and power and looks like to be a certain bet to become a full-time world champion in the not-too-distant near future. Fans are looking forward to him facing the cream of the crop in the near future but this fight could be better than many people expect if Villa is at his best. He’s just 5-feet-7-inches tall but has heavy hands and a solid chin. Still, he ranks second best to Ennis in most departments here and that should be evident in the result as Ennis should leave the ring with another victory.
