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IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis
makes his Philadelphia homecoming on July 13 at the Wells Fargo
Center in South Philly. This celebrated return to a local boxing
ring comes on the occasion of Jaron’s first defense of his 147-pound
world title. While Errol Spence moved forward with a
mega-match with Terrence Crawford last year, Ennis, his mandatory
challenger, was named “interim” champion. After Crawford demolished
Spence and opted not to face the undefeated and highly touted
next-in-line Philadelphian, the IBF elevated Ennis to full IBF
champion. These politics robbed Ennis of the chance to win his first
world title inside the ring. However, most of the boxing world
agrees that he is THE fighter to watch and potentially one of the
very best in the game today. We can only speculate exactly how
accomplished he will become when he reaches his prime and gets the
opportunity to face the very best opponents in his division.
The first step in this exciting journey begins
on July 13 when Ennis faces Cody Crowley, an undefeated (22-0, 9
KOs) Canadian southpaw who fights out of Las Vegas. Actually, truly
the first step in Ennis’ march toward his potential came when he
recently signed a promotional contract with Eddie Hearn and
Matchroom Boxing. After his lengthy contract with Showtime
petered out with the network’s complete secession from boxing, Ennis
became a promotional free agent. Of all the players in the sport,
Ennis selected Matchroom. It was a wise choice and a perfect match.
Eddie Hearn and Matchroom will finally give Ennis the attention and
platform he deserves.
This promotion, “The Homecoming,” is bigger
than anything the budding superstar has previously seen – and bigger
than any other promoter would have offered. Staging the fight at
South Philly's Wells Fargo Center is a risk. Philadelphia has not
filled an arena of this size (for boxing) in quite a while. Recent
Philly champions Danny Garcia, Tevin Farmer, Julian Williams,
Stephen Fulton, Steve Cunningham, and even Bernard Hopkins did not
so much as try. But Matchroom is thinking long-term. Hearn belives
Ennis is the future of boxing, and fighting at home was important to
Ennis. So Hearn delivered. Ennis vs. Crowley is the biggest boxing
event Philly has seen in years. Now it is up to the fans to make the
fight a commercial success. If this happens, perhaps future Jaron
Ennis fights will occur at home. For local boxing fans, the name “Ennis” is a
familiar one. Jaron is the third Ennis to lace on the gloves and
chase fame and fortune in a boxing ring. Actually, he is the fourth,
if you count his father Derek “Bozy” Ennis who trains his youngest
son. Beginning in 1977, Bozy Ennis was a
professional middleweight who fought six times through 1984. His
bouts were all four-round and six-round preliminary fights. His
career ended unspectacularly in 1984, with a record of 4-2, 3 KOs,
after the death of his trainer Al Styles. However, Bozy’s true
calling surfaced later when he shifted his efforts from boxer to
trainer.
The proprietor of his own gym, Bozy’s Dungeon,
the senior Ennis began working with local fighters. He guided solid
locals including Anthony Thompson, Olivia Fonseca, Coy Evans, Manny
Folley, Ray Robinson, Branden Pizarro, Milton Santiago Jr., and
Christian Carto. However, before Jaron, Bozy’s most promising
clients were his two older sons, Derek “Pooh” Ennis, and “The Quiet
Storm,” Farah Ennis. Pooh Ennis was a junior middleweight with all
the tools to make it in boxing. He was a smart fighter with
excellent boxing skills and a very good jab. However, Pooh was a
partier and his lifestyle hurt his progress. Still, the eldest Ennis
brother won Pennsylvania junior middleweight title, and the USBA
junior middleweight title during his career. He defeated Gabriel
Rosato (W12), Eromosele Albert (W12), and Troy Browning (W10) in
regional title bouts and appeared to be on the brink of title
contention. However, his title shot never materialized.
Eight months after defeating Rosado in the
biggest bout of his career – a 12-round defense of his USBA belt
before a packed South Philly Arena in 2010 – Ennis was shocked by
Giorbis Barthelemy in Atlantic City, who stopped him in two rounds.
After this loss, Ennis never really rebounded. He split his final
four fights (2-2) and never agian made a serious run at the top. His
final fight came in 2014 when he lost a 10-round decision to Caleb
Truax in Chicago. As good as Pooh Ennis was, and he was good, he
never made it to a world title fight, as so many fans thought he
might. He retired after 30 bouts with a record of 24-5-1, 13 KOs.
His efforts earned him a spot in the Pennsylvania Boxing Hall of
Fame in 2020, the same year his father was inducted as a trainer. Farah Ennis, three years younger than Pooh,
fought two weight classes above his older brother, at super
middleweight. Bigger, stronger, and harder punching than Pooh, Farah
also had the tools to go all the way. He cruised through his first
17 fights and collected the NABF 168-pound title with a
seventh-round TKO of Victor Lares in Atlantic City in 2010. This
victory, win number 17, made him 17-0, with 11 KOs, and earned him a
title belt that made both Ennis brothers regional champions
simultaneously. This was exactly how Philly fans expected the
careers of the Ennis brothers to go – a bilateral race to world
title honors.
However, like his brother, Farah never made it
to a world title fight. Farah lost his next bout, a close decision
against Alexander Johnson. Undeterred, he then strung together four
consecutive wins before losing by decision to future world champion
Badou Jack (L10). In the fight, Ennis looked off and only fought
once more. Two years later he won a six-round decision over Michael
Gbenga, but never fought again. He retired with a solid 22-2, 12
KOs, record. Farah has made it to the PABHOF ballot but has not yet
been elected. It seems that in time, he will join his father and
older brother in the local Hall. Despite the excellent resumes of both Pooh
Ennis and Farah Ennis, and the legendary career Bozy has had as a
trainer, the family destiny and level of their full potential are in
Boots Ennis’ hands. Boots has already captured a world title, making him the most accomplished of the family. But the lofty expectations that have surrounded Boots since his days as an amateur seem to signal that the Ennis family could even rival the Frazier family as Philly’s most distinguished clan. At the very least, Boots has already achieved the family’s dream of a world championship. This accomplishment, which was the dream of all four Ennis men, is something all they all now share as a family.
At age 26, with his biggest matches ahead of
Boots, the future of both his and the Ennis family legacies looks
bright. His next step is to turn back the challenge of Cody Crowley
before a hometown Philadelphia crowd carrying perhaps the highest
expectations for any local fighter ever in the city’s boxing
history. The pressure is on Boots to win in impressive fashion.
Along the way, Boots has been compared to Meldrick Taylor and Roy
Jones, and is already being called Philly’s current best. Only time
will tell how far he goes and how big the Ennis family legacy will
grow.
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