Rashidi Ellis Looks To Shine On ‘Tank’ vs. Garcia Showtime PPV

Welterweight contender Rashidi Ellis faces Roiman Villa in a IBF title eliminator which is on the Gervonta Davis vs. Hector Luis Garcia Showtime PPV card.

Premier Boxing Champions is stacking their young talent for this Saturday's Showtime PPV card. Welterweight contender Rashidi ‘Speedy' Ellis (24-0) will look to showcase his skills against Roiman Villa (25-1). This bout will be part of the PPV portion, headlined by Baltimore’s Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis, who will face Hector Luis Garcia in a fight scheduled for twelve rounds or less.

‘Speedy’ Ellis’ career hasn’t panned out as well as he would have liked. After spending time signed to Golden Boy Promotions, it didn’t seem like the opportunities he was looking for were available. After fighting only once in 2019 and 2020, something needed to change in his career, which led to his departure from GBP. Once he became a free agent, he signed a deal with the PBC and returned to action in July to score a first-round stoppage over Jose Marruffo.

His opponent Villa has been active and poses more of a threat than one may think on the surface. Villa has scored 24 KOs out of his 25 victories which means he isn’t by no means the term “pillow fisted.” Although all of his fights, except for his last one, have been outside of the country, he cannot be taken lightly by Ellis, who desperately wants to prove he is a top welterweight. Villa is promoted by Sampson Boxing, which has one of the best eyes for talent in the game, so Villa is a live dog in this one.

To prepare for this fight with Villa, Ellis held most of his training camp in Massachusetts instead of traveling to Puerto Rico and California, which is usually part of his itinerary. While there, he did share the ring with former WBO middleweight champion and now super middleweight contender Demetrius ‘Boo Boo’ Andrade. An experience Ellis mentioned that led to him “taking bits and pieces” from. Sparring a former world champion can’t hurt, and Ellis knows to get to the next level, that is the kind of work that he will need moving forward.

Ellis had some interesting things to say in the final press conference before the official weigh-in on Friday afternoon. Ellis said, “I’m coming to take over the 147-pound division and show I’m the big dog in this division. We’re always ready, and Saturday is no different. We’re going to see who’s top dog. Villa is in here talking crazy, so I’m going to have to beat him down for it. Everybody knows what I want to do. I want the smoke. Give me the best fighter available, and I’m gonna get into that ring.”

The 29-year-old continued, “This is a great stage for me to display my talents. I know that I’m the future of this division; I just need the opponents in front of me that will let me show the whole world. You could definitely say that is the biggest fight of my career, but at the end of the day, I’m treating this like another shift at the office. I’m coming to work. This is gonna be a great fight. He’s a strong, tough guy who’s gonna come forward and try to hit me with a lucky punch. If he wants to fight differently against me, then I’ll be ready for that too.”

Will we see Ellis vs. Ennis later this year? The back & forth today says we will. Photo Credit: Amanda Westcott/Showtime

If you are looking for one of the more intriguing matchups on the PPV portion of this card, then look no further, as Ellis vs. Villa appears to be a matchup that is going to produce fireworks which will avoid the reading of any scorecards. A victory for Ellis may lead to a fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, which is a great matchup on paper. But, before Ellis puts the cart in front of the horse, he must defeat Villa and look impressive. Will Rashidi ‘Speedy’ Ellis finally break out and get the opportunity he has been chasing? You will have to tune into Showtime PPV this Saturday night.

You can follow Abe on Twitter @abeg718 and subscribe to “The Boxing Rush Hour Show” podcast on all streaming platforms.