Jaron Ennis and the 'unique' pre-fight feeling that he radiates

NEW YORK – Promoter Eddie Hearn has been doing extensive media rounds this week as anticipation builds for his big Barclays Center show on Saturday, headlined by his man – Jaron Ennis – challenging Xander Zayas for his WBO and WBA 154lbs titles.

Hearn has long been high on the Philadelphian star, and believes Saturday could mark Ennis’ breakout performance, against Top Rank’s 154lbs king.

“That’s the hope,” Hearn told BoxingScene. “We’re really grateful to get this fight and this opportunity and we have to thank Xander Zayas for that, for having a big set of nuts and believing he's the best in the division... that’s what young fighters should do, but it’s a very unique fighter where a 23-year-old kind of superstar, unified world champion, has chosen what many feel is the best fighter in the division to defend against. So we’ve got a big fight, Barclays Center, Brooklyn and what I believe will be the announcement of Boots onto that pound-for-pound stage.”

Hearn has been promoting for more than 15 years, and he believes that once he stops – whenever that might be – Boots could well be on the shortlist of the best he has worked with.

“I think ability is one thing, you’ve still got to prove it against the right opposition and you know, when you look at guys like [Terence] Crawford, who I think is a generational great fighter, he struggled to get the big names throughout his career, really ‘til he got to kind of [Errol] Spence and Canelo [Alvarez] and we have to make sure… At 147 he [Ennis] fought the number one in the division, [Eimantas] Stanionis, not really a marquee name but a very good fighter, stopped him, unified the division, steps up to 154, he gets Xander in a unification, which is huge for him but then we’ve got to go and fight the other champions and then you’ve got to fight the other champions at middleweight and so forth, so the key is landing the fights. We’ve managed to do it so far and especially Saturday but I do believe Boots has all the ability and potential to be a top pound-for-pound fighter. I’m not talking about top 10, I’m talking about top three, top one. That’s how good I think he is.”

There is often talk about how boxing needs crossover stars to broaden its appeal, and Hearn agrees that is achieved in part by the big fights but also by the way a fighter is promoted.

“Both,” said Hearn. “I can come out, I can give him incredible promotion, I can talk about how great he is but unless you’re beating the top-level guys, it’s just hearsay isn't it? I talk a lot and it’s my job to gas up the fighters and their ability but I believe in Boots and I’m very confident that he can show everybody, [we’ve] just got to get the fights and this is it, this is a great way to kick that off.”

Sure, Hearn has been impressed by what he’s seen of Ennis in the ring and his promotional banner, but the Ennis lore has been around boxing for years and that is, in part, what Hearn has bought into with the 35-0 (31 KOs) Philadelphian. 

“I’d tried to sign him five years before I signed him because everybody’s talking about Boots,” Hearn said. “It’s no secret in the sport, this kid from Philly is the next big thing, he’s the next Crawford, he’s the next Floyd [Mayweather], he’s this, he’s that, so I’ve tried to sign him for a long time and then just being around him, lot of fighters have got this calmness, like in the changing room before, or even when I’m in the ring with them before, like during the announcement I just feel like he can’t be beat and that’s a very unique feeling.

"It’s always a weird thing to explain but it comes from his reputation and also like fighters opinions, like Shakur [Stevenson], obviously he’s got a rivalry now with Crawford so Crawford’s not really gonna admit it but Crawford knows how good Boots is, all these guys, he was around the amateur USA system, they know how good he is and he’s so unique because, like I say, a lot of those pound-for-pound guys, you have kind of one or the other, so you’re a very aggressive fighter, you’re a big puncher or you’ve got tremendous IQ and you’ve got great footwork, he’s got it all but he comes to knock you out, he comes to destroy and that’s really unique because Bam [Rodriguez]’s a bit like that as well. You look at Bam and you know, they sometimes get a bit of criticism because like, ‘Oh they get hit a bit too much.’ That’s because they're coming to fight, they’re comfortable sitting in the pocket. If they have to take one or two to open you up and to find the holes they’ll do it and they’ll stop you. If he does what I think he'll do this weekend then it’s gonna get tougher and tougher to match him but in turn your value goes up so you can pay the opponents more and that’s really what it comes down to.”

While Boots and Zayas is a superb fight in its own right, with what Hearn says about meaningful contests, its encouraging for Ennis that there are big opportunities ahead, should he win, with Josh Kelly holding the IBF title as well as US stars Vergil Ortiz and Sebastian Fundora also allowing for huge nights in the weight class.

“You’ve got Virgil Ortiz, you've got Josh Kelly, you've got Fundora, so there’s a lot of fights out there so like I said, the problem comes when you look so good, people swerve that one unless the money’s out of control but the great thing about Boots is he’s at that age, he’s at the stage in his career, he’ll fight anybody now, no backward steps, titles, unifications, biggest names. Just get through Saturday.”

And with Hearn also guiding the aforementioned ‘Bam,’ he feels he has the two big US future flag-bearers in his stable.

“Yeah, because of their age,” Hearn said. “Bam’s 26, Boots is 28, you look at those pound-for-pound guys, [Oleksandr] Usyk, [Dmitry] Bivol, [Naoya] Inoue, I mean Crawford’s obviously gone but they’re all 30, 34, 36, and then you’ve got guys like Benavidez, obviously tremendous fighter, Shakur, unbelievable fighter but Bam and Boots I think are two guys that are going to be duking it out for the number one spot.”