By Mark Eisner: Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) stayed unbeaten & held into his interim IBF 147-lb title on Saturday night, stopping the overmatched #2 ranked Roiman Villa (26-2 24 KOs) in the tenth round of a competitive contest at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The time of the stoppage was at 1:27 of round ten.
Ennis, 26, knocked the worn-out Villa down in the tenth after unloading on the Venezuelan fighter. Villa should have been pulled out several rounds earlier because he was taking bad punishment from the sixth round.
In the fifth, Villa had his best round of the fight, stunning Boots Ennis with a big right hand and landing a lot of hard punches.
Undercard results:
- Middleweight Marquis Taylor (15-1-2, 1 KO) pulled off an upset, beating previously undefeated Yoelvis Gómez (6-1, 5 KOs) by ten round unanimous decision. Taylor knocked Gomez down in the second and outboxed him throughout the contest. The judges’ scores were 96-93, 96-93, and 99-90.
- Lightweight contender Edwin De Los Santos (16-1, 14 KOs) defeated the heavy-handed Joseph Adorno (17-3-2, 14 KOs) by a surprisingly one-sided 10 round unanimous decision in the first fight of the main portion of the card. De Los Santos got the decision by the scores 99-91, 100-90, and 100-90.
- Middleweight Euri Cedeno (5-0, 5 KOs) destroyed previously unbeaten William Townsel (5-1, 4 KOs) by a first round knockout. The 23-year-old Dominican Republic native Cedeno dropped Townsel twice in the round with left hands. The referee Charlie Fitch stepped in and halted the fight after the second knockdown.
- Heavyweight Steven Torres (6-0-1, 6 KOs) stopped previously unbeaten James Evans (6-1-1, 6 KOs) in the third round of a scheduled eight round contest.
- Junior middleweight prospect Dwyke Flemmings Jr (4-0, 4 KOs) scored a third round knockout over Henry Rivera (2-1, 1 KOs) in a scheduled four round bout. The 19-year-old Flemmings Jr hurt Rivera in the third and was unloading on him at will, resulting in referee Charlie Fitch stepping in to halt the contest. Flemmings had Rivera hurt at the start of rounds one and two but then backed off or perhaps tired out in the later part and was mauled by the 33-year-old. Rivera hit Flemming Jr with punches after the bell in rounds one & two. Flemmings fired back after being hit late at the end of round two.
Roiman Villa is going to be bringing nonstop heat to Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis tonight, looking to take his IBF interim welterweight title. Villa (26-1, 24 KO) looked savagely strong at the weigh-in on Friday, and one gets the sense that if Boots can’t handle his power, he’s going to be added to the Venezuelan’s knockout record.
Ennis-Villa will take place at the Ballroom in Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City. The live boxing tonight will be shown on Showtime beginning at 9:30 p.m. ET
With his huge power, Villa could cause an upset by knocking out the heavily hyped Ennis, who showed recently in his last fight that he’s not the fighter that many fans thought.
If you’re a Boots Ennis fan, what’s cause for concern is how thin he looked at Friday’s weigh-in, coming in at 145.5 lbs, an identical weight for his last unremarkable performance against Karen Chukhadzhian.
Showtime card @ 9:30 p.m. ET
- Jaron Ennis vs. Roiman Villa
- Yoelvis Gomez vs. Marquis Taylor
- Edwin De Los Santos vs. Joseph Adorno
Prelim fights on Youtube & Facebook @ 7:30 pm ET
- Euri Cedeno vs. William Townsel
- Steven Torres vs. James Evans
- Dwyke Flemmings Jr vs. Henry Rivera
Ennis vs. Villa prediction
The Venezuelan Roiman Villa has the size & punching power to give Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis a world of problems for their main event twelve-round fight on Showtime.
What’s surprising about Villa’s size advantage is that he used to fight at 135 & 140, which is hard to imagine him being able to make those weight classes.
Boots Ennis has the pedigree & the boxing ability to win this fight handily and take advantage of Villa’s come-forward style of fighting to score a stoppage at the mid-point of tonight’s fight.
Prediction: Ennis by sixth round TKO over Villa.
“I like the energy from Villa. He says he’s coming to fight, and he looks like he’s ready. Boots is ready, so I’m just waiting to see how it goes down,” said trainer Greg Hackett to YSM Sports Media about tonight’s main event fight between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis on Showtime.
“To be honest, bigger man means bigger target. That’s how you got to look at it,” said Greg reacting to being told that Roiman looked bigger than Boots Ennis when they told face-to-face on the stage during Friday’s weigh-in.
“He [Villa] is going to be bringing pressure, and I think he is stronger than people think. He is a pure puncher, and he’s mean, so I’m really excited because I want to see Boots dig deep and get him out, and I think he’s going to have to. So, I think it’s going to be a good fight.”
Ennis will be dealing with pressure
The pressure from Roiman tonight is going to be immense, like the weight of 35,000 feet of ocean water bearing down on Boots Ennis.
It’s going to be difficult for Boots to deal with that pressure because this isn’t a light touch like some of his past opponents. Villa can actually fight, and he’s going to be on top of Jaron, forcing him into a war of attrition.
“I think for this fight here, Boots will be more focused than he was for his fight with Karen because that was a bigger night,” said Greg. “That was a pay-per-view night. That was a Tank night.
“That was kind of one of those joint ventures where you get two stars on one night. So that night, I felt there was more pressure, a lot of energy, and a lot of s**t going on.
“This night here [Ennis-Villa] is more like, ‘Alright, I know what it’s like to show my a** and really to fight on a big card.
“The excitement level is really high, but now I’ve really learned from the experience and slow myself down and calm down.’ I think he’s [Boots Ennis] is going to be really on point for this one, really sharp.
“Anywhere to the body, that’s what I want to see. A stab [jab to the body] is like a distance-breaker or should I say, a distance stoppage to stop you from stepping in,” said Hackett.