Jaron Ennis is doing what many of the top contenders are doing: He’s waiting.
The 147-pound knockout is beating every second-place opponent in front of him and waiting for his big chance, a duel with one of the belt-holders (winner Terence Crawford-Errol Spence Jr.? ) or another top welding weight class.
If that game bothers him, he won’t show it.
“It’s really not that hard,” he told Boxing Junkie. “… I have to be patient, focus, get better every day. When the time comes, I will be more than ready.”
Ennis (30-0.27 KOs) is scheduled to take on one of those second-tier competitors, Roiman Villa, on Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey (Showtime). And, of course, he has to win to even think about participating in a major event.
That may not be easy. Villa (26-1, 24 KOs) is a solid boxer with stellar punch power, though he managed to win over Ennis by knocking down the toughest opponents in the last two bouts. his previous undefeated opponents were Janelson Bocachica and Rashidi Ellis.
Ennis compared Villa to a previous opponent of his, Sergey Lipinets, a smart and tough boxer. Ennis stopped Lipinets for six innings.
One more thing about Villa: Ennis won’t have to chase him when the opening bell rings, as he did with the capable but reluctant Karen Chukhadzhian. The Ukrainians survived but lose every roundbeat Ennis’ knockout record at the age of 19 (not counting unmatched matches).
Ennis wants to start a new streak on Saturday.
“He would be right in front of me,” Ennis said of Villa. “He won’t move, he won’t run. That was perfect for me. He’s a bit like Lipinets, although I feel Lipinets is a lot more cunning. …
“[A knockout) is the goal. I want to look good, be sharp, beat him up, get that stoppage.”
Then the 26-year-old would go back to waiting.
Of course, a meeting with the winner of the July 29 Crawford-Spence fight for the undisputed championship would be boxing’s equivalent of winning the lottery but there’s no telling what might follow that bout.
A lucrative rematch would make sense if the original is competitive, as it’s expected to be. Or the winner could move up to 154 pounds, which would create vacancies and all kinds of possibilities.
Ennis can only watch with the rest of us to see how it all plays out, assuming things go well for him in Atlantic City.
“I don’t know when I’ll get that shot,” he said. “Hopefully when they do fight each other, Crawford and Spence, hopefully there’ll be no rematch clause. [But] Maybe I won’t win anything until next year.
“Maybe the main focus is Villa right now. I am locked in him.
