Roiman Villa will be one of the few people inside Boardwalk Hall who will see Jaron Ennis fight for the first time Saturday night.
The gifted, undefeated Philadelphia native has attracted a lot of attention throughout his ascension in the welterweight division over the past few years. The 26-year-old Ennis’ uncommon combination of hand speed, intelligence, power, versatility and athleticism have prevented opponents from winning rounds against him, let alone fights.
Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs, 1 NC) has become must-see TV, but Venezuela’s Villa has stuck to his habit of refusing to watch footage of his opponents prior to their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event at Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Theater in Atlantic City, New Jersey (9:30 p.m. EDT; 6:30 p.m. PDT).
“I know that most fighters study tape and see what their opponents are gonna do,” Villa told BoxingScene.com, according to his translator. “But I feel like when you do that you start thinking more about what the other guy is gonna do and you stop realizing what you can do and what you can discover about yourself. And you kind of psych yourself out in the process. So, ever since I was a kid, I refused to watch any of my opponent’s fights.
“Because in the end, I can adapt to absolutely anything. If Ennis wants to fight orthodox, then he can go ahead. If he wants to fight southpaw, then I’ll adapt just like that. My style of fighting is one size fits all, and I’m able to overcome and adapt to anything that my opponent might do.”
Villa (26-1, 24 KOs) has beaten undefeated fighters in back-to-back bouts.
He was an underdog against Rashidi Ellis as well, but Villa scored two knockdowns during the 12th round and edged Ellis by majority decision January 7 on the Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia undercard at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Those two knockdowns accounted for the differences on the cards of judges Dave Braslow (114-112) and Paul Wallace (114-112), whereas judge Tammye Jenkins scored Villa-Ellis a draw (113-113).
“The two knockdowns did make the difference,” Villa said. “I’m well aware of that. Ellis probably won the first half of the fight, but that’s why we fight until the final bell. And the last few rounds were very important. I was able to prevail in those rounds and then I came out with my hand raised.”
In Villa’s previous fight, he battered Detroit’s Janelson Bocachia on his way to an eight-round, unanimous-decision victory. Villa dropped Bocachica in the second round and won by large margins on all three scorecards – 79-71, 79-71, 78-72 – last September 9 at Bally’s Grand Ballroom in Atlantic City.
Neither Ellis (24-1, 15 KOs) nor Bocachica (17-1-1, 11 KOs) are as highly regarded as Ennis, who went the distance for the first time in nearly six years in the fight after Villa upset Ellis on the Davis-Garcia undercard.
Ukraine’s Karen Chukhadzhian extended Ennis through 12 rounds for the first time in Ennis’ seven-year pro career. Chukhadzhian was reluctant to engage, though, and lost every round on all three scorecards in their fight for the IBF interim welterweight title (120-108, 120-108, 120-108).
The typically aggressive Villa should be far easier for Ennis to hit than the elusive Chukhadzhian (22-2, 12 KOs). Villa still doesn’t seem the least bit concerned about Ennis’ expansive repertoire or that most sportsbooks have established Ennis as a 12-1 favorite.
“It comes down to what’s gonna happen on July 8th,” Villa said. “People, experts, they can talk as much as they want. But the last words come from the man up above. And besides, Rashidi Ellis said that he was gonna beat me. Bocachica said that he was gonna beat me. Who ended up winning? Me.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.