Jaron Ennis’ knockout of Custio Clayton puts him in position to fight for welterweight title

CARSON, Calif. — Jaron “Boots” Ennis needed two rounds and one big punch to further punctuate his position as one of boxing’s brightest contenders.

A chopping right hand to the top of the temple vanquished Custio Clayton and officially earned Ennis a shot to fight unified welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.

Clayton, the former Canadian olympian, got up from the punch after a long count only to helplessly stumble forward. If the ring ropes were not there, the previously unbeaten Clayton would have fallen into the lap of Spence, who was sitting in the front row at Dignity Health Sports Park.

Ennis, who had the phrase “Mr. Catch A Body” adorned on the front of his pink and white trunks, walked toward Spence, took out his make-believe fishing rod, and threw a line in the Texan’s direction.

Spence calls himself the “big fish” of boxing — he even has a tattoo of the billing paired with images of a shark inked on his body.

After making bait of Clayton, the 24-year-old Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs) declared he’s ready to jump into the deep end.

“Anybody can get it right now. But I’m the IBF No. 1 contender and I think ‘Mr. Big Fish’ is here himself, so it’s time to go fishing,” said Ennis, the rising star from Germantown.

Ennis’ win against Clayton resulted in his 19th consecutive stoppage victory, and he still hasn’t fought past the sixth round during his six-year career. In his 5 minutes and 49 seconds of work, the physically imposing Ennis displayed a special mix of elite power and speed fighting in both southpaw and orthodox stances.

A total of 24 punches were all it took to put away Clayton.

“I keep telling ya’ll every single time, you know my slogan. We’re in and out like a robbery. We don’t get paid for overtime,” said Ennis, who used his platform throughout the week to fight for Jackson Ramirez, a 7-year-old from Pittsburgh in need of a bone marrow transplant.

Ennis started Saturday night providing chief support to Jermell Charlo’s knockout win against Brian Castaño for the undisputed super welterweight championship. Although the Philly fighter played second fiddle, he was presented a great opportunity to showcase his special talent in a new market and in front of a large audience who’d be tuning in for the anticipated headlining rematch on the premium cable network Showtime.

As Ennis walked into the ring to his cousin Nilo’s song “Rocket” — one day after weighing in to Meek Mill’s “Ima Boss” — the Los Angeles-area fans showered Boots with California love.

By stringing together one remarkable win after another, Ennis has quickly developed into a boogeyman.

It’s extremely unlikely Spence will bite on Ennis’ line anytime soon. It’s a high-risk, low-reward proposition for Spence, who has tunnel vision to finally fighting Terence Crawford in an undisputed championship match before moving up to 154 pounds.

“I heard he said he wanted to reel me in — he might catch something he doesn’t want. Don’t go too hard trying to reel me in,” Spence said in an interview on Showtime after the fight.

“He’s right there [in the puzzle]. He’s right on the edge. It’s just like with me … I was right on the edge begging for an opportunity, calling guys out. He’s doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s hungry. He’s supposed to call me out and call everybody out. You have to be a hungry young lion … Ennis can fight, I’m very high on him. He has the right attitude. He has the right team behind him. He’s going to go a long way.”

Stephen Espinoza, Showtime’s president of sports and event programming, played a pivotal part in building Spence’s career. He provided Spence with his first world title opportunity in 2017, and Spence has since developed into a pay-per-view star. Espinoza said he’s willing to allocate the similar resources and strategies required to give Ennis career-defining opportunities.

“I’ve always told him — do your job inside the ring, and we’ll do our job to put you in a position to get the big fights,” said Espinoza. “We’re all in agreement that he needs fights that will keep advancing his career. It’s our job to find him the next best thing. We’ve done the hard work to get here. Now it’s time for the payoff. Money or no money, it comes down to who’s willing to fight him. If we need to open up the checkbook, we will.”

Considering his current ties to Showtime and Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, Ennis could face former champions like Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia, both of whom will demand sizable paydays to give Ennis a shot at a breakout performance.

Ennis had a disclosed purse of $400,000 to fight Clayton, but he pulled in just past the seven-figure mark.

Should Thurman and Garcia balk at the thought of fighting him, Ennis could face top-10 ranked European welterweight fighters like Eimantas Stanionis and Radzhab Butaev. Yordenis Ugas, who just lost to Spence, could be another option. Ennis is ranked in the top four by all four major sanctioning bodies.

“It doesn’t matter who it is. I am just looking forward to putting on great shows and building my legacy,” said Ennis. “Showtime has a new star — a new face. You might as well call me Mr. Showtime now.

“You’ve only seen 30% of my talents so far. I haven’t had to go in my bag yet. Maybe you’ll see some new tricks in my next fight. I’m ready to keep showing everyone I’m the best welterweight in the world.”

Boxing executive Cameron Dunkin has presided over the careers of Crawford, Mikey Garcia, Nonito Donaire, and Diego Corrales. Dunkin has also guided Ennis since his pro debut, and he believes Ennis has a higher ceiling than Crawford, arguably boxing’s best pound-for-pound star.

“It was another incredible performance,” Dunkin said after Ennis knocked out Clayton. “There’s nobody like Jaron. The better he looks, the harder it gets to land him an opponent.”

As his son tries to reel in a sizable foe, Ennis’ father, Bozy, puts it more bluntly.

“The longer these dudes wait, the worse the beatings are going to get,” he said.

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America