By Jack Tiernan: Rashidi Ellis (24-0, 15 KOs) wants a title shot against welterweight champions Errol Spence Jr or Terence Crawford next after he faces Roiman Villa (25-1, 24 KOs) this Saturday, January 7th, in a 12-round IBF 147-lb title eliminator on Showtime PPV at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Interestingly, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is fighting for the interim IBF welterweight title on the same card as Ellis against Karen Chukhadzhiann. Supposedly, the winner of that fight is guaranteed a title shot against Spence next, but we’ll see.
The IBF effectively creates a logjam of mandatorys, waiting patiently for their shot at a title against Spence. Unless the International Boxing Federation finally orders Spence to fight Boots Ennis or Rashidi Ellis, this is a big waste of their time.
The soft match-making that Ellis has had during his ten-year professional career has led to a failure to launch, as he’s now pushing 30 and has fought only one contender in Alexis Rocha.
Ellis should have been matched against top-rung contenders years ago, but for some reason, he’s been held back.
“He’s tough; he’s a durable opponent. Almost all his wins are knockouts,” said Rashidi Ellis to Fighthype about his opponent for Saturday night, Roiman Villa.
“He’s going to try and knock me out, so you’ll see. That could happen real soon,” Ellis said when asked if there’s a possibility that they could put him and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis on the same card again.
“It could happen next year or whatever. I don’t have any rivals yet because nobody is talking s**t to me. Nobody wants the smoke, but a rivalry could happen. I’d love a rivalry.
“Any of the top guys in the top five. Anybody. In a perfect world, I’d love to get the champions, but you know that isn’t going to happen. It’s my turn now, especially after this on January 7th. I’m taking over.
“Nah, I want it now. I want it all. My first [nickname] was ‘Prince,’ but nobody was having it in my hometown, so I stuck with ‘Speedy.’
“The other guys, not a slouch, but I think Tank is going to get him out of there,” said Ellis predicting Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis stops his opponent Hector Luis Garcia on Saturday night in the main event.
“You got to stay focused and stay focused on your goals. The people that is watching this stop the negativity and start being positive. It’s as simple as that.
“We’re going to have to see, but he’s a come-forward fighter. We’re going to see if it’s a difficult task,” said Ellis about his opponent Villa. “He’s got to show me in the ring. He can do it to somebody else, but he’s going to have to do it to me.
“I can see a lot of things that other people couldn’t do to him. Of course,” said Ellis when asked if he thinks he’s an ‘underrated fighter.’ For a long time, I was the best-kept secret, but I’m not a secret anymore. I’m a known man now,” said Ellis.
