In front of over 14,000 fans at Wells Fargo Center in his hometown of Philadelphia, IBF 147-pound champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis successfully defended his title by defeating David Avanesyan by 5th-round TKO on Saturday night.
Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) defended his title for the time and fought in Philadelphia for the first time in six years.
The 27-year-old was dominant from start to finish.
According to CompuBox, he landed 53% of his power punches.
Avanesyan (30-4-1 18 KOs), who replaced an injured Cody Crowley, did land on Ennis, but as expected, he was overmatched. Ennis, who landed 152 total punches, landed at least 21 punches or more in all five rounds, and put Avanesyan on the canvas with a beautiful left hand in the 5th round. Avanesyan would recover, but the ringside physician had seen enough at the end of the round, and they called a halt to the action.
Ennis, who had not fought in over a year, acknowledged that there was some ring rust.
“I felt good but a little off with the ring rust,” Ennis said. “My timing was a little off, but it’s ok. I could have went 15 rounds.”
Following his dominating performance, the Philadelphia native says he wants the big names, including two-time undisputed champion Terence Crawford, who will fight for a title at 154 pounds against Israil Madrimov on August 3.
“I want the big names, Terence Crawford,” he said. “Anybody else that got a big name, let’s get it.”
This was a good night for Ennis. He gave a big crowd what they came to see. He was entertaining, and ultimately, he got the stoppage. “Boots” did get hit a little more than you would like to see, but that could have been a byproduct of him knowing that Avanesyn could not hurt him and a little rust.
Going forward, cleaning out the the 147-pound division could be difficult. Not because of his talent because Ennis is probably the most talented fighter in the welterweight division.
WBC interim 147-pound champion Mario Barrios and WBA “regular” welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis are both PBC fighters, In addition, Brian Norman Jr. is the WBO interim welterweight champion, and he’s a Top Rank/ESPN fighter, so again, it might be hard for Ennis to clean out the 147-pound division.
Not many fighters can draw over 14,000 fans, so Eddie Hearn and Matchroom Boxing should bring Ennis back to the Wells Fargo Center by the end of this year or sometime in 2025.
Photo: Amanda Westcott/Matchroom
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