Over the past six days Eddie Hearn has not tired in heralding Jaron Ennis as the heir to Terence Crawford‘s recently-vacated welterweight throne. And tonight, unleashed on home territory in Philadelphia for the very first time, he proved exactly why.
Ennis, or ‘Boots’ as he is more affectionally known in boxing circles, slowly took apart David Avanesyan to stop his seasoned challenger after five rounds and successfully defend his IBF title at the first time of asking.
Avanesyan, 35, started positively in the lion’s den, but as the fight advanced it quickly became clear that he was by no means sharp enough or strong enough to outdo Philly’s 27-year-old sensation, who brought thousands of his home supporters out to Wells Fargo Centre – home of the city’s NBA and NHL teams – on Saturday night.
It took him a while to get going, with the challenger enjoying some success when dragging the fight into a war from up close, but from the third round onwards Ennis clicked his heels together and began working his magic.
Jaron Ennis stopped David Avanesyan after five rounds to retain his IBF welterweight title
Ennis, who has been labeled the next Terence Crawford by many in the sport, put on a show in front of his home Philadelphia fans
In the fifth he was rocked by a couple of well-timed Avanesyan uppercuts, which almost seemed to spur him on towards the brutal attack which followed.
As his opponent pressed and pressed in a bid to make things messy on the inside, Boots sent him tumbling to the canvas with a thunderous left hook which all but sealed this victory for him. For the remainder of the round and the fight Avanesyan had to try his best to weather the storm, but boy what a storm it was as Ennis left him reeling with some chopping blows to both head and body.
After taking a beating at the close of the fifth, the ringside doctor advised the referee that enough was enough, and the hometown hero had retained his championship much to the delight of his adoring audience.
In Crawford, who conquered the 146lbs landscape before moving on up to super welterweight, there aren’t many bigger acts for Ennis to follow in this division as he looks to carve out a glittering career of his own.
Yet this straightforward night at the office shows that if anyone is capable of filling those shoes, it’s Boots.