A critical look at the past week in boxing
BIGGEST WINNER
Jaron Ennis
We won’t know for sure how good Jaron Ennis is until he graduates to the top tier opposing team but no one scores higher on the eye test. “Boots” looked like the perfect boxer against a solid, enduring but hopelessly overpowered opponent at Roiman Villa on Saturday night in Atlantic City, overwhelming the Venezuelan before scoring. brutal knockdown in 10lame pants round. Natural gifts? No one has the combination of speed, fitness and power. No one. Skill sets? Jab, power shot(s), motion, repeat. His ability to follow that formula leaves Villa (26-2, 24 KOs) helpless. And he’s a perfectionist, which means he’s only going to get better. Power? He can’t knock Villa down with a single shot – he has to take him down – but that has more to do with the victim’s chin than Ennis’ punch power. He’s a real knockout artist. Reliability? Villa himself, a great puncher, hit some tough shots and Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) never wavered. Great chin. And he’s learning not to stand in front of his opponent, meaning he’ll take fewer and fewer punches forward. Invisible treasure? He carried himself like he was the best boxer in the world. And he could be. I don’t see a way to defeat him. Again, though, we’ll see when he faces the best possible opponents in this division and beyond. I have a feeling it won’t be good for them.
THE BIGGEST FAILERS
Vergil Ortiz
Ortiz appears to have stabilized after overcoming a blood disorder and prolonged COVID, which has limited his activities for the past few years. He told Boxing Junkie who will be in his scheduled bout against 147-pound opponent Eimantas Stanionis on Saturday in San Antonio that he remains as fit as he has been in years. Then disaster struck again. He had to withdraw of the bout just two days earlier was reported to have been caused by dehydration and fatigue in the attempt to not reach the 147-pound weight limit. That left him with only one fight in two years and no schedule, which once again put the talented boxer’s career at a standstill. The good news for him is that he should be able to recover quickly if the only problem is that he can’t gain weight. He will almost certainly switch from Stanionis and return to the 154-pound weight class, which will eliminate the weight issues and present a new set of potential opponents (Tim Tszyu, Brian Mendoza, Erickson Lubin and Sebastian Fundora, among others). And he has one more thing for him: time. He is only 25 years old. Ortiz (19-0, 19 KOs) has all the possibilities in the world. When he finally overcomes this series of unpleasant challenges, he has a good chance of realizing his great potential.
TRIAL DOLL
One has to sympathize with Stanionis, who was left out of a big game after a long and arduous training camp after enduring two previous postponements. Let’s hope he gets a hot rival in the next month or so. Ennis called him out after the win but he won’t be ready to return until the end of the year, which may not work for Stanionis. Something must have broken the way of the 28-year-old Lithuanian, right? … New items: Anthony Joshua (25-3, 22 KOs) and Dillian Whyte (March 29, KO) will meet on August 12 in London. I wouldn’t have liked the match if it were a standalone event. Joshua took down Whyte, who proved he can’t win big fights. However, the fight makes sense for Joshua. Number 1, it will do good business in the UK Number 2, it gives him a second fight under new training Derrick Jameswhich leads directly to number 3: Joshua is said to intend to meet Deontay Wilder end of the year. He’s going to need all he can get into for that bout, which is one of the most exciting fights possible in any weight class. It’s been a big year for the former British heavyweight champion.
