By Craig Daly: Interim IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis wants to force a corner or ref’s stoppage of his opponent Roiman Villa this Saturday night in their twelve round headliner on Showtime on July 8 at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.
Unlike in his previous fight, he failed to score a knockout against Karen Chukhadzhian, Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs) is confident that he’ll KO Villa (26-1, 24 KOs). Villa will try and win and will want to trade power shots against the 26-year-old Boots Ennis.
Can Ennis stop Villa? That’s the magic question. Rashidi Ellis came up dry against Villa last January, getting dropped twice en route to twelve round majority decision.
Live boxing action will begin on Showtime at 9:30 p.m. ET/6:30 p.m. PT.
Undercard fights:
- Yoelvis Gómez vs. Marquis Taylor
- Edwin De Los Santos vs. Joseph Adorno
- Euri Cedeno vs. William Townsel
- Steven Torres vs. James Evans
- Dwyke Flemmings Jr vs. Henry Rivera
- Ismail Muhammad vs. Parker Gregory Bruno
Ennis is being forced to wait until the Errol Spence Jr vs. Terence Crawford fights play out before he is either elevated to full IBF champion status or he fights for the vacated belt.
One thing we know the Spence-Crawford winner won’t fight Boots because they’re both planning on moving up to 154 to go after the titles in that weight class.
“Working on things, sharpening up, getting ready for this week on July
July 8th,” said Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to Fight Hub TV about his fight against Roiman Villa this Saturday.
“He’s a good fighter, nothing special. He comes forward, a pressure fighter, throws wild shots, no jab, no defense. I feel like he’s going to be running into a lot of shots, and we’re going to give him more than he’s looking for,” said Boots Ennis about Roiman.
What boxing fans want to know is, can Roiman upset the favorite Ennis?
“I don’t think too much about that because me and Rashidi [Ellis] are two different fighters,” said Ennis when told that Rashidi Ellis connected on 40% of his punches against Villa last January in a losing effort. “I’m a lot more physical and bigger than Rashidi.
“Villa is going to be surprised. I think my power is going to shock him, and he’s going to be shook a little bit. I think it’s going to be a lot for him. We’re going to give him everything he’s been looking for.
“I can’t say too much, but it’s going to be fireworks. I can’t wait to have some fun, I can’t wait to shine. Set him up, beat him up, break him down, rip him up, and have some fun. We’re going back to making statements. Stopping people and making statements,” said Boots about his goal for Saturday night against Villa.
“Not looking for a knockout, but having fun, being sharp, keeping everything on point, and fighting at my pace. I feel like I don’t need a knockout in this fight, but when I go in there looking for them, that’s when I don’t get them. In my last fight [Karen Chukhadzhian], I went in there looking for it.
“I wanted it, but this whole camp, I went back to having fun, just being me, and when you don’t look for it, that’s when everything falls right into place. That’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to have fun, make it easy, be smart, sharp, take it to him, break him up, and put on a legendary performance.
“I want the ref to stop it or his corner to stop it and throw the towel in. I want to beat him up bad like that,” said Ennis.
