PHILADELPHIA – Although few will assert that Jaron Ennis proved much with his first-round destruction of unheralded Portuguese fighter Uisma Lima, the former unified welterweight champion plans to go big-game hunting in his next fight.
Ennis, who put Lima down twice en route to the first-round stoppage Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center, says he is targeting a showdown with fellow unbeaten junior middleweight Vergil Ortiz Jnr next. Ennis was quizzed about the proposed matchup in his postfight interview with DAZN’s Chris Mannix. He acknowledged that Ortiz, 23-0 (21 KOs), first has to resolve his upcoming fight next month against Erickson Lubin, but he says he wants that fight afterwards – or any other top fighter in the division.
“It’s going to happen next,” said Ennis, 35-0 (31 KOs). “I know he got his fight. And if he don't win, I’ll fight the winner of that. If I don’t get Vergil Ortiz next, I heard that baby [Jermell] Charlo was calling me out; Charlo, he can get it next. [Unified champion Sebastian] Fundora. What's his name? Bacharach? [Bakhram Murtazaliev], he can get it. Oh. Xander [Zayas], he can get it. I’m belt-chasing. This is my division – 154 is mine. I’m on tour.”
Ennis, 28, dismissed Ortiz’s team’s assertions that the Philadelphia boxer known as “Boots” was not game for the matchup.
“That's next. Too much talking. That's next. It's in they hands now,” said Ennis.
If Ennis wasn’t comprehensive enough in his call-out list, promoter Eddie Hearn made sure to cover all bases. The Matchroom Boxing head Hearn decreed that Ennis was the “future of boxing,” adding that he still has another 8-10 years of greatness ahead of him. He says that he thinks Ennis can beat anyone in the world – not just in his weight class but even as high as 168lbs.
“Line them up and he'll piece them up,” Hearn said. “Vergil Ortiz will get destroyed by Jaron Ennis. I will bet the house on it with Oscar De La Hoya. It's the best fight in boxing in America. It's a beautiful fight. [Ortiz is] a great fighter, but this guy is on another level, I'm telling you. You have got 8-10 years of greatness from this guy. He lives the life. There is nobody like him in boxing. He's going to go up against anyone, Ortiz, Murtazaliev, Fundora, Zayas.”
Ennis, who threw his mouthpiece into the crowd out of excitement after the stoppage, reiterated that he was game to take on the big challenges in his new division, now that he had gotten his feet wet.
“I sent a big, big message. Y’all know what time it is. Y’all know who I want next,” said Ennis, pointing to an imaginary watch on his wrist. “Tick, tock, gun, shot.”
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
