About a week after notching the 31st knockout of his undefeated professional career earlier this month in front of a home crowd, Germantown’s Jaron “Boots” Ennis was in a familiar, calm and comfortable position.
“I’m feeling great after the victory,” he said with a chuckle. “First-round knockout, you know, not sore or anything, no injury, so feeling great.”
Ennis, whose nickname “Boots” comes from people in the gym mishearing his father calling him by his childhood nickname “Boops,” won the fight emphatically, in just 72 seconds. He dropped his opponent, Uisma Lima, twice before the referee stepped in to save the cornered and overwhelmed Angolan boxer.
It was his first technical knockout in his three bouts at the Xfinity Mobile Arena. He described the feeling of the victory in front of a Philly crowd as “tremendous” and “surreal.”
“It’s just a whole different vibe, aura,” he said of the Philly crowd. “Our fans is crazy. My supporters is crazy. I love it.”
Ennis was a heavy favorite against Lima (14-2, 10 KOs) at Xfinity Mobile Arena, but it did have some risks. He stepped up a weight class for the fight, moving up to the 154-pound junior middleweight division from the 147-pound welterweight division, where held two belts. The win secured him a new belt: the WBA Interim super welterweight title.
In a city known for boxing greats like Joe Frazier and Bernard Hopkins — and sure, the fictional Rocky Balboa — Ennis is well on his way to joining that stratum of boxing royalty. When asked about where he is on that path, the 28-year-old said he’s “just getting started.”
“I feel like when it’s all said and done, my legacy will be up there with those names as well,” he said.
‘Put on where I’m from’
Ennis grew up in Germantown’s Brickyard neighborhood, and trained in his father Derek “Bozy” Ennis’ gym in the basement of the Holy Temple of Deliverance church.
Despite his father and two older brothers, Derek “Pooh” and Farrah “Quiet Storm,” being in the profession, Ennis said boxing was never forced on him by his family.
“[Derek Sr.] was like, ‘I’m going to show you how to fight and you do whatever you want to do with it,’ ” Ennis recalled. “He showed me how to fight and then I just fell in love with it. Boxing is very fun for me and something I love to do. I just love beating people up and putting on shows.”
On his list of favorite boxers is — after his dad and brothers, who round out the Philly contingent — Floyd Mayweather Jr., Roy Jones Jr., Pernell Whitaker, Sugar Ray Leonard and Mike Tyson.
Being back in Philly to fight gave Ennis the chance to do some community work, including hosting an event at South Philly’s Ralph Brooks Park the weekend before the fight.
“I’ll still try to talk to the kids and give them some words of wisdom, words of advice, and just try to be a great example and give the blueprint to the kids,” he said. “Let them know that I came from where y’all came from … Like you can make a way out of anything, just believing in yourself.”
Ennis also did a youth training event at the Lighthouse’s community center in North Philly, and fights with the nonprofit’s logo on his shorts. He told the Inquirer that he plans to build a gym in Germantown, not far from where his late grandmother lived.
“Germantown is me basically. I put on for where I’m from and that’s my whole thing, put on where I’m from, you know, give back to my community as much as possible.”
Aside from the community events and the fight, Ennis said he spent the time before and after the fight back home relaxing, “chilling with the fam.”
‘Keep knocking them down’
Since his victory, Ennis and his promotion team are lining up a fight against Vergil Ortiz, who’s also an undefeated super welterweight champion. Ortiz first has to defend his belt against Erickson Lubin in Fort Worth, Texas, on Nov. 8. Ennis said he’s trying to be at that bout, and should things go well for Ortiz, his promotion team led by Matchroom Sports’ Eddie Hearn, will work on lining up the highly anticipated matchup in 2026. The fight likely will not be in Philly.
With that and a couple more wins, Hearn and his team can see Ennis moving up a couple more weight classes to face today’s best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, undisputed super middleweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford. Ennis got to spar against Crawford’s last opponent, Mexican boxing superstar Canelo Álvarez, as part of both of their preparations for their respective fall bouts.
“Right now, [Crawford’s] kind of like the cash cow, so he could fight whoever he wants,” Ennis said. “My goal is definitely to beat all these guys, and whoever they put in front of me to keep knocking them down.”
The post ‘I just love beating people up and putting on shows’: ‘Boots’ Ennis is latest champ in Philly’s rich boxing tradition appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY.
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