Boots Ennis Puts On A Show in Philly

Jaron “Boots” Ennis brought The Boots Show to Philadelphia, thrilling his hometown fans with a swift five-round beatdown of David Avanesyan of England. Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) successfully defends his IBF World Welterweight title for the first time.

Boots Ennis thanked the 14.000 plus fans at the Wells Fargo Center for coming out to support him. “Good job Philly, I appreciate y’all.”

Late Opponent Change Not a Factor for Boots Ennis

Jaron Ennis successfully defended his IBF World Welterweight title after a victory via TKO against David Avanesyan Photo: Amanda Westcott, Matchroom.

Avanesyan (30-5-1, 18 KOs), a late replacement for original opponent Cody Crowley, gave it his best and didn’t back down. But he didn’t have enough power or speed to seriously threaten Ennis. He merely delayed the inevitable.

After an unfortunate low blow by Ennis on Avanesyan slowed the fight momentum in the first round, the action cranked back up quickly.

In the fifth round and completely in command of the fight, Ennis dropped Avanesyan by drilling him with a left hook to the body, followed by a hook to the head as Avaneysan tried to land a counterpunch.

As Avenesyan dropped to the canvas, the fans leaped to their feet faster than Avanysyan could get up. Ennis moved in, pounding Avanysyan to the body and catching him coming in with all his best hooks and uppercuts. Avenesyan made it to the corner, where his team decided he’d had enough for one night.

Boots Ennis: ‘My timing was off’

Boots Ennis said his timing was off. Tell it to David Avanesyan. Photo: Amanda Westcott, Matchroom.

Ennis was tough on himself after the fight when assessing his performance, saying he felt good, but his timing was off.

“I don’t know why I came in thinking my timing wasn’t going to be off, because I was in the gym,” said a smiling Ennis. “I’m in shape, I could have gone 15 rounds easy.”

Ennis said he kept pressing Avanesyan, pushing him back. “I was too strong for him. I should have listened to my corner, gone to the body more, use angles more.” Ennis may change his mind after seeing the CompuBox stats. He landed 152 of 327 punches thrown in five rounds, a 46% connect rate. Avanesyan landed 53 of 225 punches throw (24%).

Ennis said he’d be back in Philadelphia again soon. “I appreciate everybody that came out. I’ll keep putting on beautiful shows. The next one will be even better. Come out and support me. I’ll keep bringing those knockouts home.”

Eddie Hearn: ‘I think he beats everyone’

Jaron Ennis and promoter Eddie Hearn said they’d return to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia in the fall. Photo: Amanda Westcott, Matchroom.

Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn was elated with the performance and with the huge turnout, calling it “an incredible spectacle.”

“If he thinks that performance was off, the world of boxing better be very, very afraid. That was Boots Ennis after a year off dismantling a world-class fighter. The future for Boots Ennis is the future of boxing,” said Hearn.

The compliments kept coming. “He’s humble, he won’t say too much. I’ll say it: I think he beats everyone. I think this is a special fighter that needs to be tested against the best in the world. Activity is key. Too many of these young fighters are too inactive,” said Hearn, who added he would like to bring Ennis back in the fall.

The dream fight is against former unified welterweight champion Terence Crawford at 154 pounds. The first priority is unifying the division against the other current champions (Mario Barrios, Eimontas Stanionis, and Brian Norman Jr.).

“Most definitely, let’s make it happen,” said Ennis. “That’s what I want.”

Jalil Hackett Puts Rounds In The Win Bank

Jalil Hackett went ten rounds for the first time against Peter Dobson Saturday in Philadelphia. Photo: Melina Pizano, Matchroom.

Welterweight prospect Jalil Hackett of Washington DC (9-0, 7 KOs) went the distance in his first ten-round fight to defeat Peter Dobson of Bronx, New York (16-2, 9 KOs). Scores in the unanimous decision win were 97-93, 97-93, and 96-94. Hackett wins the WBA Continental Americas title.

Hackett, age 21, had never gone more than four rounds before. Dobson, age 34, made Hackett work hard for the win. Hackett won the early rounds, but Dobson dug in and fought back to make it a closer fight than expected. Hackett landed 200 of 700 punches thrown (29%) against 127 of 447 for Dobson (28%).

Fans may not see these types of fights as entertaining, but Hackett put rounds in the bank that will earn interest and pay off for him in tougher fights down the line.

Skye Nicolson Successful In Title Defense

Skye Nicolson made her first title defense against Dyana Vargas for her WBA World Featherweight title. Photo: Melina Pizano, Matchroom.

Skye Nicolson of Queensland, Australia (11-0, 1 KOs) breezed through a successful title defense of her WBC World Featherweight title against Dyana “La Machina” Vargas of the Dominican Republic (19-2, 12 KOs). Scores on all three cards were 100-90.

“I think I showed a little bit more what I could do,” said Nicolson, who says she loved the Philly atmosphere. “I had fun in there.”

The 32-year-old Vargas gave it her best in her first fight outside the DR, but Nicholson is too mobile and too slick to feel any threat from Vargas.

Nicholson landed several good left hooks around the guard to the head of Vargas in the fifth round and followed with improving body shots and uppercuts while she outboxed Vargas. Nicolson outlanded Vargas 135 punches of 329 to just 29 of 249 for Vargas.

Skye Nicolson found success with wide left hooks around the guard of Dyana Vargas. Photo: Melina Pizano, Matchroom.

Nicolson said her left hand came into play because her lead right hand was getting sore from all the jabs she landed on Vargas. “It forced me to do more, so it was a good thing.” The Australian is not a power puncher, but she shows potential if wants to add the threat to her tool kit.

Nicolson craves a fight with Amanda Serrano, but it’s unlikely as the veteran will close out her boxing career against Katie Taylor before moving on to pursue mixed martial arts. Nicolson instead called out two undefeated fighters in the division, Raven Chapman of England and Tiara Brown of Florida: “I want all the smoke. Let’s go!”

Khalil Coe Steps Out, Steps Up

Khalil Coe lands his first of two knockdowns against Kwame Ritter. Photo: Melina Pizano, Matchroom.

Khalil “Big Steppa” Coe of Jersey City, New Jersey (9-0-1, 7 KOs) had a last-minute change of opponent in Kwame Ritter of Baltimore (11-1, 9 KOs). It made little difference to the light heavyweight. He mowed down Ritter in two rounds, landing heavy hands in the second round to send Ritter to the canvas.

Ritter beat the count, but never got his feet back under him. Coe didn’t let him off the hook, bringing in the heavy artillery to rock Ritter several more times until referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the fight at 1:59 of round two.

Khalil Coe wins by TKO after referee Ricky Gonzalez waves off the fight against Kwame Ritter Photo: Melina Pizano, Matchroom.

“It’s a different opposition but the same outcome,” said Coe. “The first round, I just wanted to pressure him. Touch his body and see what he was doing.

“He’s awkward. He’s a fundamentally awkward person,” continued Coe. “When you touch him, he gives you facial expressions. He falls for every feint. We set him up, and I got the shot.”

Coe admitted he’s gotten a slow start after a limited amateur career. “I learned the hard way, and that’s the best way to learn.” Coe hopes to face Joshua Buatsi of England if he wins his September 21 fight against Willy Hutchinson.