Jaron Ennis was provided an unexpected platform one day before his fight against Demian Fernandez when he was elevated to Showtime’s main event after the Claressa Shields-Ivana
Habazin fight was canceled after Habazin’s trainer James Ali Bashir was assaulted during the weigh-ins.
Ennis (24-0, 22 KOs) used his newfound position to further provide another case for his star potential by dominating Fernandez (12-2, 5 KOs) with a third round TKO as the televised main event Saturday at the Dort Federal Event Center in Flint, Michigan. It was Ennis’ fourteenth consecutive win by knockout.
The touted 22-year-old Philadelphia fighter, who’s nickname is “Boots,” kicked some serious tail in what appeared to be an easy sparring session, showing that much of the praise that’s been thrown his way thus far has been appropriate.
Fernandez unsuccessfully stood toe-to-toe in the third round and attempted to trade with Ennis, and it immediately proved to be costly as he was dropped after taking over a dozen unanswered shots in the corner of the ring. After dropping to a knee, Fernandez got up at the count of nine, unconvincingly and on unsteady feet. As referee Frank Garza let the action resume, Fernandez instead pointed his paw to his right eye and requested for the fight to be stopped.
With a six-inch reach advantage and three-inch height advantage, Ennis used his far superior skills, accuracy, power and lighting-fast hands to easily stop the Aregentinian opponent who was eight years his senior.
The first two rounds were not much promising for Fernandez either in a fight of which he was outlanded 54 to 27.
Ennis came out firing in the first minute of round one, but his overeager attack yielded two low blows and a stern warning from Garza. Ennis switched to southpaw and cleaned up his act immediately after and promptly showed poise and power by battering Fernandez.
The offensive onslaught continued in the second and third rounds round, and Ennis outmuscled and outworked Fernandez, this time in an orthodox stance.
Ennis, a regarded amateur who won the 2015 National Golden Gloves and earned a No. 1 ranking as the top amateur at 141 pounds, was fighting for just the second time this year after a legal spat with his promoter put a pause to his promising career for nine months.
The welterweight sensation will have his sights set on stronger competition moving forward as he continues his climb up the sport’s ladder as a blue-chip prospect.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist and member of the Boxing Writers Assn. of America since 2011. He has written for the likes of the Guardian, USA Today, Philadelphia Inquirer, Men’s Health and NFL.com and currently does TV commentary for combat sports programming that airs on Fox Sports. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan or via email at manouk.akopyan@gmail.com.
