Jaron Ennis

Jaron Ennis (born June 26, 1997) is an American professional boxer who has held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title since 2023. As an amateur, he won a silver and gold medal at the U.S. National Golden Gloves Championships in 2014 and 2015 respectively.

Early career
Ennis made his professional debut on April 30, 2016, defeating Cory Muldrew via first-round knockout (KO) at the Dixie Center in St. George, Utah. He fought a further seven times in 2016, scoring four consecutive stoppage wins over Luis Ramos in May; Deshawn Debose in June; Tavorus Teague in July; and Matt Murphy in August. Ennis went the distance for the first time in September, defeating Eddie Diaz by unanimous decision (UD) in a scheduled four-round bout. He saw out the year with two more stoppage wins over Chris Alexander in November and Marcus Beckford in December.

He began 2017 with a first-round KO victory over Elvin Perez in January, followed by the second decision win of his career; a UD against James Winchester in March. Ennis had a further seven fights in 2017, winning all seven by stoppage; Eduardo Flores in May; Wilfredo Acuña and Robert Hill in June; Ricardo Cano in August; Lionel Jiménez in September; Ayi Bruce in October; and George Sosa in December.

Across the following 3 years, Ennis would go on to accumulate 9 more victories. All 9 of those said victories coming within the distance.

He took on and defeated fighters Gustavo Garibay, Samuel Amoako, Mike Arnaoutis, Armando Alvarez, and Raymond Serrano in the year 2018.

Throughout the year 2019, he fought and felled fighters Franklin Mamani in August and Damian Fernandez in October.

And in 2020, he easily dispatched Bakhtiyar Eyubov in January and Juan Carlos Abreu in September.

Ennis had one last fight in 2020 and it was up against former IBF welterweight champion South-African boxer Chris "The Heat" van Heerden. Their scheduled 12-round bout took place on 19 December at the Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, U.S. and it was for the then-vacant IBO welterweight title.

Despite the early action in the first round seemingly entailing another knockout victory for the Philly-native, an accidental clash of heads opened a terrible gash on the forehead of Van Heerden which made him bleed profusely. Seeing the cut was severe, the referee stepped in and waved off the fight which consequently resulted in it being considered a No-Contest.

Ennis vs. Lipinets
Five months on and undisturbed by the No-Contest smearing his record, Ennis faced the former IBF light-welterweight champion Sergey "Samurai" Lipinets on 10 April 2021, at the Mohegan Sun Arena, Montville, Connecticut, U.S.

Early on, Ennis utilized a superior jab that kept Lipinets at bay and allowed him to keep fighting from a comfortable distance. And whenever Lipinets tried to close the gap by pressuring forward with a tight high-guard, Ennis simply made use of his footwork to pivot out of the way of danger.

In key moments, Lipinents did manage to close in on Ennis and hammer away at his body with hooks and uppercuts and even land a few flush right hands on Ennis' jaw.

However, Ennis' defensive acumen and proven-sturdy chin negated Lipinents' smattering offensive success and would counter the constantly pressuring Kazakh boxer more and more as the rounds went on. And the end came in the sixth round when Boots, from the southpaw stance, landed a thudding lead right-hook to the Samurai's temple and followed that up by a wicked left uppercut to his jaw that left him flat on his back on the canvas.

The referee saw that Lipinets was too stunned to even attempt getting back up, so they did not bother with the 10-count and waved off the fight and thus making Ennis the victor of their bout by way of knock-out.

Ennis vs. Dulorme
On 30 October 2021, at the Michelob Ultra Arena, Paradise, Nevada, United States, Ennis took on Puerto Rican boxer Thomas "El Francés" Dulorme.

He would go on to make short work of Dulorme and knock him out in the first round of their scheduled 10-round bout.

Ennis vs. Clayton
Serving as an IBF welterweight title eliminator bout, with the winner supposedly being set in line to become the mandatory of (then) unified WBA, WBC, and IBF welterweight champion Errol "The Truth" Spence Jr., Ennis and Canada-native Custio "War Machine" Clayton clashed in the ring on May 14, 2022, at the Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California, U.S.

Ennis justified his role as an overwhelming favorite to win the bout by knocking out Clayton in the second round with a fully torqued right-hook from the orthodox stance that landed square on Clayton's temple. To Clayton's credit, he did make the attempt to rise, but his equilibrium was too shaken for him to get his feet under him before the referee finished the 10-count.

Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian
Unable to secure a match up with Errol Spence Jr., who was preoccupied with waiting out a welterweight undisputed bout with WBO welterweight champion Terrence "Bud" Crawford, Ennis squared-off against Ukrainian boxer Karen Chukhadzhian on Jan 7, 2023, at the Capital One Arena, Washington, D.C., U.S. With their bout also having the then-vacant IBF welterweight interim-champion title on the line.

Ennis' six year knockout streak, bar the no-contest against Van Heerden, was broken when he was taken the distance for only the third time in his career by Chukhadzhian who proved himself to be sturdier than people gave him credit for. But even with his gutsy attitude, the Ukrainian was dominated by Ennis across every round of their scheduled 12-round bout. This domination was reflected in the judges scores cards of 120-108 thrice and all in favor of Ennis for a Unanimous Decision victory.

Ennis vs. Villa
Making the first defense of his IBF welterweight interim-champion title, Ennis took on hard-hitting Colombian boxer Roiman "Flaco de Oro" Villa on 8 July 2023, at The Ballroom, Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, U.S.

From the first round, Ennis' superior hand-speed and punch placement made it difficult for Villa to close in the distance. And even with Villa's tight high-guard and forward pressure granting him moments of success, they were greatly eclipsed by Ennis' own offense that was gradually becoming more frequent and coming in longer combinations as the rounds went on.

And in the 10th round, Boots slumped the Colombian slugger on the ropes with a lead left-cross and right hook combination from the southpaw stance which prompted referee David Fields, who had already warned Villa's corner that he would stop the fight if Villa continued to not punch back properly against Boots' barrage of attacks back in the 9th round, to not even start a 10-count and immediately wave off the fight to declare Ennis the winner of their bout by knockout.

And with his 31st victory acquired, Ennis retained his undefeated status along with his welterweight interim-champion title.

IBF welterweight champion
Three months after the defeat of Errol Spence Jr. on July 29th, 2023, to Terence Crawford, who had then unified the welterweight titles and became the undisputed champion of the division, the IBF ordered Crawford to defend their title-- and in conjunction the WBC, WBA, and WBO titles --against Ennis who is his IBF-mandatory. Crawford did not take the fight, and the IBF subsequently stripped Crawford of their title on November 9, 2023, promoting Jaron Ennis to (full) IBF welterweight champion.

Ennis vs. Avanesyan
Ennis was scheduled to defend his IBF welterweight title against Cody Crowley at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024. Early June, Crowley announced that he was forced to withdraw from the bout due to retina issue. On June 11, 2024 David Avanesyan was announced as a new opponent for Ennis. Ennis defeated Avanesyan via fifth-round RTD.