Jaron Ennis respects Uisma Lima’s ambition.

Several junior middleweights, most notably Serhii Bohachuk, turned down lucrative offers to travel to Philadelphia to face Ennis on Saturday night in his hometown. The way Ennis sees it, at least Lima was willing to challenge himself by accepting a dangerous fight in which he is a huge underdog.

Angola’s Lima looks at their WBA 154-pound elimination match as a perfect opportunity to introduce himself to unfamiliar fans who’ve dismissed him as another overmatched opponent for Ennis to pick apart in front of an adoring crowd. Ennis noticed in clips he has seen that Lima comes forward and tries to overwhelm opponents with volume.

The fast-handed, powerful, ambidextrous Ennis warned Lima that if he doesn’t exercise the requisite caution, he’ll quickly suffer his first knockout defeat in six years as a pro.

“I love fighting guys like him, that believe in themselves,” Ennis told The Ring. “He gonna try to bring a fight and if he try to bring a fight, it’s gonna be a early night.”

Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs, 1 NC) has one of the highest knockout ratios in boxing (88 percent).

He outclassed Eimantas Stanionis in his last fight, when Ennis dropped the former WBA welterweight champ in the sixth round and won every round on the cards of all three judges. Marvin Somodio, Stanionis’ trainer, instructed referee David Fields to end their 12-round title unification fight before the seventh round began April 12 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Lithuania’s Stanionis (16-1, 9 KOs, 1 NC) was his most credible opponent, but Ennis easily beat him. Squeezing down to 147 pounds became too troublesome, though, which led to Ennis relinquishing his Ring, IBF and WBA belts in June.

Ennis, 28, wanted to test himself against a higher-profile opponent in his junior middleweight debut, the 12-round main event of DAZN’s stream from Xfinity Mobile Arena (8 p.m. ET; 1 a.m. BST).

Lima (14-1, 10 KOs) holds the IBO welterweight title, but Irish contender Aaron McKenna (20-0, 10 KOs) clearly out-boxed him and won their 10-rounder unanimously in June 2023.

Lima, 32, has since won four fights in a row, the last three against opponents who entered the ring undefeated. Each of those fights took place in the countries where Haro Matevosyan (Germany), Sukhdeep Singh Bhatti (Canada) and Shervantaigh Koopman (South Africa) reside.

“He a good fighter,” Ennis said. “He tries to pressure you, throw a lotta punches. That’s really about it. That’s all I really see.”

Ennis – a 25-1 favorite according to DraftKings – doesn’t think the criticism he has endured for facing Lima is justified.

“Lima is a top 10 guy,” Ennis said. “I’m glad he accepted the fight and now it’s time to handle business October 11th. Get him out of there, make a big statement and, you know, on to the next.”

Lima is not ranked among The Ring’s top 10 junior middleweight contenders. Ennis isn’t ranked, either, but only because he has yet to compete in the 154-pound division.

Assuming he beats Lima, Eddie Hearn, Ennis’ promoter, and DAZN executives expect Ennis to fight rival Vergil Ortiz Jr. next. Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs), of Grand Prairie, Texas, is scheduled to defend his WBC interim super welterweight title against Erickson Lubin (27-2, 19 KOs), of Orlando, Florida, in another DAZN main event November 8 at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas.