Jaron Ennis could be Philly’s next great boxing champion, but first he needs a title shot

Jaron Ennis covered his eyes last month while lying on his back after finishing a grueling workout. He slammed a sledgehammer against a truck tire, rattled off sit-ups, whipped a battle rope with ease, and carried weights around the gym as he prepared for Saturday’s pay-per-view bout.

The night’s work — the heavy lifting, at least — was finished for the Germantown boxer. It was time for Ennis, his eyes closed, to dream.

“Just think about what your goals are,” said his strength and conditioning coach, Altaf Rahamatulla. “What are your most important goals?”

Ennis (29-0, 27 knockouts) imagined winning Saturday against Ukraine native Karen Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KOs) in Washington to become the IBF’s interim welterweight champion. And then he dreamed of capturing the actual title — which is currently held by Errol Spence — and becoming the undisputed champion at 147 pounds.

“I just pictured me having all the belts around my waist,” Ennis said.

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The 25-year-old nicknamed “Boots” has scored his last 19 wins by stoppage and has yet to be truly challenged as a professional, appearing to have the skills to make those lofty dreams feel tangible. He is pegged by many to be one of boxing’s rising stars and could be the city’s most prominent boxer since Bernard Hopkins. He fights in one of the sport’s premier divisions and has a style made for TV. A star seems ready to be born.

“Within that goal,” Rahamatulla said as Ennis remained on the floor, “what are the tasks needed to achieve that goal?”

And that’s where it gets complicated. Ennis became the IBF’s No. 1 contender last May when he scored a second-round knockout, but a title shot never came. Spence, who also holds the WBA and WBC titles, tried to position himself against WBO champ Terrence Crawford, but a unification bout failed to materialize. So Ennis waited.

Crawford instead defended his title against lower-rated David Avanesyan and said Ennis’ name never came up when they were looking for opponents. Spence has not fought since April and seems to be in a holding pattern until he gets Crawford.

Ennis, denied a title shot, would have taken a crack at former champion Keith Thurman, but interest was tepid. And he said he was open to meeting Eimantas Stanionis or Vergil Ortiz, two of the division’s other undefeated prospects, but they’ll fight each other in March.

Ennis idled for seven months before securing Saturday’s 12-rounder as the featured undercard bout of the Showtime pay-per-view telecast from Washington’s Capital One Arena headlined by WBA lightweight champion Gervonta Davis vs. Hector Luis Garcia. A world championship is still a dream, but Ennis thinks it’s getting closer.

His father, Derek “Bozy” Ennis, sent a series of letters — “long text messages,” he said — to IBF president Daryl Peoples and asked why Spence was not required to defend his title against the No. 1 contender. Ennis, who also trains his son, told Peoples that Spence had not fought a mandatory challenger in four years.

“It’s our time,” Ennis said. “You’re supposed to do the right thing.”

Ennis believes his plea worked, saying that Peoples called and told him that a title shot was coming. The IBF, Ennis was told, will give Spence 120 days after his next fight to schedule a defense against the No. 1 contender, which will be Jaron Ennis as long as he wins on Saturday.

So Spence-Ennis later this year in one of Philly’s biggest bouts in years? Probably not that simple.

“I don’t think Spence is going to fight Boots,” Bozy Ennis said. “That’s what I think. I tell everybody that we don’t care who has the title. We’re going to fight for the title. If Spence doesn’t have it, then whoever has it, that’s who we’re going to fight. It doesn’t make a difference. I’m not running after Spence because if he doesn’t want to fight Boots, then give the title up.”

Ennis said he does not think the division’s established fighters are scared of his son, who has never lost a round as a professional and last went the distance six years ago. But they do view him as a “high risk with a low reward.” The champions, the older Ennis said, want to be undisputed or fight a lesser name. Why risk everything against Ennis?

“I don’t think they’re avoiding me. I just think they’re trying to go around me,” Jaron Ennis said. “But I feel like they can’t keep doing that because there’s no one else left to fight. Who else are you going to fight? It’s just the young guys left.”

Ennis believes his son would have already secured a shot if they worked with a promoter or signed with manager Al Haymon, the boxing power broker who has tried to land Ennis. But the father — whose brief pro career in the 1970s included a fight on the night Philly legend Boogaloo Watts scored his final win — said he has seen enough in boxing and wants to do it his way. So they’ll wait.

Jaron Ennis trained for most of last year despite not having a fight and wondered if he needed to talk more. Maybe he’d be a world champion if he matched his in-ring skills with a trash-talking personality outside the ring. But that’s not him, he said. The Ennises are set on winning a world championship in their style.

“I do my talking in the ring,” Ennis said. “I’m more of a biter. I’m not a barker, I’m a biter.”

Ennis grew up in the gym, watching his dad train a stable of local fighters — contenders like Coy Evans, Anthony Thompson, Demetrius Hopkins, Prince Badi Ajamu, and his older brothers, Derek and Farah — who came close but never became world champions.

Ever since he was sparring professionals as a teenager, Ennis has told his father he wants to be a champion.

“My drive comes from my family,” Ennis said. “This is all we know. I’ve been around this boxing game forever.”

The family’s first world championship is starting to feel close. And when he wins it, Ennis said the belt will be immediately strapped around his father’s waist. But for now it’s still just a dream.

“Take one last breath, slowly open your eyes,” Rahamatulla said as Ennis sat up. “We’re done.”