Welterweight star Jaron Ennis is channeling his inner Mike Tyson as the Philadelphia native aims to capture the interim IBF title.
Ennis tackles IBF number four Karen Chukhadzhian in the co-main event of a SHOWTIME PPV this Saturday, headlined by Gervonta Davis at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
The double feature in an event presented by Premier Boxing Champions.
A victory for Ennis will put him as the stipulated next challenger to Spence in a contest that could be made this summer.
Spence is returning from another car wreck, hopefully by June. Ennis will have ample time to prepare if he comes through his next test.
Using Tyson as a template, Ennis hopes to bulldoze his way to a first major title.
Jaron Ennis
“I’ve just been watching a lot of Mike Tyson myself. He put a lot of punches together. Triple, doubles, same hands, lots of knockouts. He didn’t see too many late rounds. I’ve been watching him a lot this camp,” said Ennis, who admits his upcoming foe is a mystery.
“I haven’t watched any footage of my opponent, but my team has been watching him. We have a game plan for what he does well.
“I’m excited to have people from Philly down to D.C. for the fight. It’s only a couple of hours away, so you’ll hear Philly in the building.
“It doesn’t matter where we’re fighting at. I’m going to train just as hard. We prepare for every single fight like it’s a world title fight.
“I’m training all year round. The holidays don’t affect the schedule. I eat well, my weight is on point, and everything is good.
“My last day off was on Christmas, but that’s only because Sunday is my normal day off. If it were on a Saturday, I would have trained.”
Errol Spence Jr
On Spence, Ennis added: “I feel like Errol Spence Jr. would fight me.
“I’m going there to win the interim title, then fighting Errol next. I think we can make it happen.”
And on a potential move to 154, “Boots” concluded: “I’ll move up to 154 pounds at some point for sure.
“I’m strong and can move up and down if I have to. I’ll fight anyone at 154 or 147. It’s safe to say we’re looking to have a short night on January 7.”
Jaron’s Father and Trainer, Bozy Ennis, aired his thoughts on the fight.
“We don’t change up the preparation much fight by fight. We keep trying to work harder and harder. We’re just putting in the work.
“I don’t watch the opponents. I let Jaron’s brothers do that. But I watch the first round of the fight and then go from there.
“If you start looking at one fighter too much, you can get into a bad situation if they get hurt and have to be replaced. We train to face any style.
“We took our time. We’ve waited around. The only thing holding us up is that we knew Spence was mandatory. But we knew he was working on the fight with Terence Crawford.
“We’re definitely looking to fight three times next year now.”
Davis vs Garcia
The bout is part of a pay-per-view telecast beginning at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT, headlined by undefeated five-time world champion and boxing superstar Gervonta “Tank” Davis taking on unbeaten world champion Héctor Luis García for Davis’ WBA Lightweight Title.
Tickets for the live event, promoted by GTD Promotions and TGB Promotions, are on sale now and can be purchased online at ticketmaster.com and capitalonearena.com.
The Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian bout is promoted in association with D&D Boxing.
