Ennis vs. Villa Preview
The Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City will play host to a title fight for the interim IBF welterweight belt. Undefeated champion Jaron Ennis will defend against hungry Columbian contender Roiman Villa.
Ennis (30-0-1, 27 KO) is coming off his unanimous decision victory over Karen Chukhadzhian to win the vacant belt in January. The win was just his second decision victory in his last 25 fights. Other than a no contest due to an accidental head clash, Ennis has been storming through welterweights in dominating fashion.
There have been heavy talks that the Philadelphia native will challenge the winner of Erol Spence and Terence Crawford, should he defeat Villa on Saturday. Ennis believes he is next in line. “I’m definitely the next guy waiting,” Ennis said. “You’ve got [Vergil] Ortiz, you’ve got [Eimantas] Stanionis, they’re right there, too. The young guys are here. If we can’t fight Crawford or Spence, I’ll take Stanionis, Ortiz, or even the older guys, Keith Thurman and [Yordenis] Ugas. It doesn’t really matter.”
Ennis is ready to prove why he is the next great welterweight champion. “What will separate me from the younger guys is my skills and my ability all around,” Ennis said. “I feel like my style is fan-friendly. Everybody always wants to see me fight. I fight both ways — orthodox and southpaw. I’ve got power, I’ve got speed from the inside. I box, I do everything. I’m like a variety pack. Any chip you want, I’ve got it. I feel like everybody wants to see that, so I feel like I’ve got a little advantage over those other guys.”
While he does have key victories over former title challenger Thomas Dulorme and former champion Sergey Lipinets, Ennis has yet to prove he is ready to mix it up with the pound for pound greats at 147 pounds. However with another dominant KO victory on Saturday, he will be difficult to deny.
Villa (26-1, 24 KO) is coming off a majority decision win over Rashidi Ellis in January. The only blemish on his record is a split decision loss back in 2019 to Marcos Villasana.
The 30-year-old is confident he can shock the heavy favorite Ennis. “I like it because he’s such an overwhelming favorite that I feel like people have me flying under the radar, and that’s just the way I like it,” said Villa.
Villa enjoys being the underdog. “There are no big men. So I’m going to be ready to be up for the challenge, and he’s a quality fighter, but I’m looking forward to showing the fans what I’m capable of,” said Villa.
He concluded that he is not scared like Ennis’ last opponent. “I’m going to pull off the upset. You couldn’t pay me even 10 million dollars to fight scared like that because what happened in the fight is that clearly fear paralyzes the best of them,” Villa said of Karen Chukhadzhian.
“If you allow yourself to be paralyzed by fear, then that’s it,” said Villa. I can promise you that there is not a single ounce of me that’s willing to fight like that. I’m the total opposite.”
The fight can be seen on Showtime starting at 9pm ET
