IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) looked drained today during his PR face-off with challenger David Avanesyan (30-4-1, 18 KOs), four days before they fight on Saturday, July 13th.
Ennis, 27, is the favorite to defeat Avanesyan in their twelve-round headliner on DAZN. Still, you can’t rule out an upset if he gets caught by one of the challenger’s big shots at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Ennis’s Uncharacteristic Fatigue
Boots Ennis had to make some adjustments to Avanesyan’s style quickly after his originally scheduled opponent, Cody Crowley, pulled out due to health problems. Ennis states that it’s not been a big deal for him to adjust to Avanesyan’s style, but we’ll see if that’s the case.
During today’s face-off, Boots appeared less confident. Avanesyan, 35, looked more confident and comfortable at the weight. He’s likely to rehydrate less than Boots, which could help him.
“Avanesyan is usually a very durable guy, but Crawford knocked him out with one punch, which to me is a shocker,” said boxing expert Paulie Malignaggi on his channel about David Avanesyan suffering a sixth-round knockout loss to Terence Crawford in his last fight on December 10th, 2022 in Omaha, Nebraska.
“I was surprised that Crawford stopped him with one punch. He’s [Avanesyan] very durable. He’s sort of a prospect-buster,” said Malignaggi about Avanesyan. He beat guys like Josh Kelly. He beat Kerman Lejarraga and one or two other guys.”
Crawford stopping Avanesyan has nothing to do with what the Boots Ennis fight because he’s not on the same level as Terence. Crawford is a better fighter than Ennis, so you can’t fault Avanesyan for getting knocked out by him in 2022.
Ennis’s Weight Drain: A Recipe for Upset?
“He’s a really rugged guy, very durable guy. I guess you could forgive him [Avanesyan] for being stopped by one punch. It was a one-punch stoppage that really shocked me. I don’t know if his chin is starting to be dented here because he’s usually a durable guy who makes you go rounds and presses you.”
If Boots Ennis is weight-drained, Avanesyan will have an excellent chance of winning this fight and possibly knocking him out. That would be a massive upset, but it wouldn’t be that much of a surprise, given how Boots looked today.
