No place like home for Philadelphia flyer Jaron Ennis

Shortly before Jaron Ennis headlined in Philly against replacement foe David Avanesyan, Keith Idec caught up with the IBF welterweight king.

JARON ENNIS envisioned packing Wells Fargo Center for one of his fights when he attended a Philadelphia 76ers game there March 1 to customarily ring the replica Liberty Bell on the court of his hometown’s NBA team.

Ennis, then entangled in litigation with the widow of his late promoter, didn’t realize that he would get that long-coveted opportunity merely four months later. The unbeaten IBF welterweight champion expects to box before at least a near-capacity crowd at Wells Fargo Center on Saturday night, when Ennis is scheduled to encounter Russian-born contender David Avanesyan, who resides and trains in Newark, England. (Ennis beat Avanesyan in five rounds).

The 27-year-old Ennis, who grew up approximately 20 miles north of Wells Fargo Center in the Germantown section of northwest Philadelphia, will fight in his hometown for the first time since the gifted fighter nicknamed ‘Boots’ knocked out Raymond Serrano in the second round of their November 2018 bout at nearby 2300 Arena. Ennis will also end a 53-week layoff against Avanesyan, most known to boxing fans for his sixth-round knockout loss to Terence Crawford in December 2022.

“I’m definitely excited to get back in the ring,” Ennis told Boxing News. “It’s been a good, long year. You know, in the meantime, I was just getting ready, staying ready, staying patient, perfecting my craft. And it’s a blessing to be able to fight at the Wells Fargo Center. I kinda been waiting all my life for it. … I’m grateful to be put in this position. I’m going down in history in Philadelphia.”

As much as Ennis’ long-awaited return represents a reunion of sorts with thousands of his Philadelphia faithful, it is also a chance to expand Ennis’ profile far beyond the United States. 

Ennis signed a multi-fight agreement with Matchroom Boxing three months ago. His new partnership with Matchroom means Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs, 1 NC) will make his DAZN debut versus Avanesyan (30-4-1, 18 KOs). The card headlined by Ennis-Avanesyan is set to start streaming at 1am BST in the UK.

Adding Ennis marked Matchroom’s most significant signing of an American-born boxer since the promotional company run by Eddie Hearn launched Matchroom Boxing USA six years ago. The often-hyperbolic Hearn has been especially effusive in his praise of the versatile, explosive Ennis, whom Hearn predicted will become an undisputed champion in multiple divisions.

 “Everybody in boxing knows about this guy,” Hearn said recently. “Now it’s time to tell the world. You’re talking about pure, pure elite. You’re talking about the likes of Crawford and Spence. I’m talking about [‘Sugar Ray’] Leonard. I’m talking about this is how good this kid can be. He’s gonna light up Philadelphia. He’s gonna light up American boxing. He’s gonna light up U.S. boxing, world boxing. He’s got absolutely everything – the ability to beat everybody. He’s got style, he’s got speed, he’s got power. When you spell greatness, it spells E-n-n-i-s. And it’s time to put him to the test. This guy, I’m telling you, is the future of the sport.”

Each of Ennis’ past 12 fights were televised by Showtime either live on that premium cable network or during pay-per-view broadcasts Showtime distributed. Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis – Jaron’s father, manager and trainer – and his son were willing to continue having him compete on cards constructed by Premier Boxing Champions founder Al Haymon after Cameron Dunkin, Ennis’ longtime promoter, died January 2 due to a long battle with cancer.

Ennis wasn’t officially affiliated with PBC and thus wasn’t appropriately prioritised by Haymon. Showtime had a multi-fight agreement with Ennis, who was paid purses that exceeded $1 million for each of his final five fights with the network.

Paramount Global, Showtime’s parent company, eliminated its Showtime Sports division at the end of 2023, which halted the network’s 36-year run in boxing and further complicated Ennis’ involvement with PBC. Ennis’ handlers directly dealt with Stephen Espinoza, Showtime’s former president of sports and event programming.

Espinoza attempted to keep Ennis aligned somewhat with PBC after Showtime exited the boxing business, but Haymon’s first three cards since he partnered with Amazon’s Prime Video have all been pay-per-view shows. Haymon doesn’t have a platform for non-pay-per-view events, which eliminated Ennis’ opportunities to headline those types of cards.

Ennis eventually sued NOW Boxing Promotions for breach of contract, in part because he was reportedly concerned that Dunkin’s widow, Kellie Dunkin, couldn’t adequately guide his career due to her lack of experience in the boxing business. NOW and Ennis agreed to an undisclosed settlement in March, which enabled Ennis to shop his services to the sport’s top promoters.

Ennis hoped to box WBC interim champ Mario Barrios on PBC pay-per-view cards that took place in March and then June. The Barrios bout failed to materialize, however, and Ennis ended a frustrating guessing game by signing with Matchroom.

“I just feel like I need to stay active,” Ennis said, “to stay in the ring, stay fighting, stay sharp, so I can be able to collect the rest of these belts. That’s my main thing right now.”

An optimistic Ennis expects to box for a second time in 2024, assuming the 20-1 favorite vanquishes Avanesyan and leaves the ring relatively healthy. Though he wants to battle Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) or WBA champ Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) as soon as possible, the humble, mature Ennis is entirely too focused to overlook Avanesyan, himself a former WBA secondary 147-pound champ.

“David Avanesyan is a good fighter,” Ennis said. “He kind of fights similar to my last opponent, Roiman Villa. He’s just not as big and I don’t think puts as much pressure on you. But he do put pressure [on opponents]. I think he’s gonna put pressure [on me]. He don’t really move his head too much. He’ll be right there in front of me, and you know how those fights end.”

Ninety percent of Ennis’ fights have ended in knockouts or technical knockouts since he made his pro debut in April 2016. Ukraine’s Karen Chukhadzian (24-2, 13 KOs), whom Ennis shut out on all three scorecards to win the IBF interim welterweight title in January 2023, is the only opponent to take Ennis the distance since March 2017.

Avanesyan, 35, replaced Canadian southpaw Cody Crowley as Ennis’ opponent early last month. Crowley is the IBF’s mandatory challenger for Ennis’ belt, but he failed a pre-fight eye examination and wasn’t approved for a license.

“I think David Avanesyan is a better fighter, but I think Cody Crowley is sturdier,” said Ennis, who violently knocked out Venezuela’s Villa (26-2, 24 KOs) in the 10th round last July 8 at Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Theater in Atlantic City, New Jersey. “I feel like David Avanesyan fought the better competition, but Cody Crowley is sturdier as a welterweight.”

Ennis doesn’t expect the lengthiest layoff of his eight-year pro career to throw off his timing Saturday night. Ring rust won’t be a factor, according to Ennis, because he has stayed in the gym to prepare for a title defense he thought would occur long before the one-year anniversary of his impressive victory over Villa.

Regardless, Ennis hasn’t given up on opposing the former welterweight champions – Crawford and Errol Spence Jr – he chased before they announced their plans to move up to the 154-pound division. Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), who will box Uzbekistan’s Israil Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) in a 154-pound championship match August 3 at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles, dismissed Ennis as a potential opponent after Crawford pummeled Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) to become boxing’s first fully unified welterweight champion of the four-belt era last July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Terence Crawford stops Errol Spence in July (Getty Images)

“I don’t think those guys are out of the picture,” Ennis said of Crawford and Spence. “The only thing is they moved up to another weight class. And I feel like I’ll be at that weight class soon, so it’s not disappointing. I feel like my time is gonna come. I’m gonna be able to fight those top guys soon.”

Ennis hasn’t abandoned his plan to oppose one of his highly regarded contemporaries, either, in what would be one of the most fascinating fights the sport could offer. Rival Vergil Ortiz Jr has recorded two first-round knockouts in 2024 and appears to have overcome the physical issues that caused three of Ortiz’s fights to be postponed, including his twice-scrapped shot at Stanionis’ welterweight title.

Ortiz (21-0, 21 KOs), of Grand Prairie, Texas, is scheduled to face Serhii Bohachuk (24-1, 23 KOs) for the Ukrainian veteran’s WBC interim super welterweight title August 10 at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena in Las Vegas.

“I think everything should be cool,” Ennis said. “[Ortiz] made weight the last few times. I think he’s gonna be fine. I think that fight is definitely gonna happen in the future.”

Ennis is fully focused on smaller opponents at the moment, literally and figuratively. He is also appreciative to have Hearn on his team to handle all the heavy lifting from a promotional standpoint.

“I like how Eddie moves fighters and treats his fighters,” Ennis said. “They got a show every week, so I just wanna stay busy, stay active. And I like what Eddie do for his fighters. Once Eddie get behind you, he behind you. He do all the talking and all I have to do is fight. … It’s phenomenal. He do all the talking for me, and I do all the talking in the ring. I like it that way.”