All fighters are human but this past Saturday night, Jaron Ennis looked like he was from another planet.
In the main event slot at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) made Eimantas Stanionis look like he didn’t belong. The now unified welterweight champ barely broke a sweat on his way to a corner stoppage following the sixth round.
Sergio Mora, who was calling the fight live, was impressed with what he saw. All in all, Ennis looked flawless. Mora won’t fulminate if you call the smooth switch-hitter the best fighter at 147 pounds. In fact, he’ll agree with you. In his mind, taking on the rest of the division’s champions should happen but he’s confident that Ennis would emerge as an undisputed champion.
In order for the 27-year-old to get a real challenge, Mora believes he’ll have to move up in weight and re-engage Vergil Ortiz Jr. in talks. More than anything else, that’s the fight Mora wants to see.
In terms of who would win, recency bias may kick in for most. But, for Mora, no matter how spectacular Ennis looked, he still isn’t willing to say he’ll take out Ortiz.
“I would favor Vergil in that one slightly,” said Mora to The Ring. "Slightly."
A few months ago, it seemed like Ortiz and Ennis were on the verge of getting it on. Their conclaves, however, fell apart once Ennis revealed that he would rather remain in the welterweight division to collect the rest of the belts.
Eventually, Ennis’ frame won’t allow him to cut down several pounds and he’ll be forced to campaign as a junior middleweight. When that does happen, Ortiz (23-0, 21 KOs) will be one of his main targets.
Mora isn’t telling Ennis to eschew Ortiz. The Philly star should test himself against the best and Ortiz, from his point of view, is at the top of the mountain.
It’s easy for Mora to sit back and give his opinion without any context, but before anyone shreds him for his line of thinking, he broke down exactly why Ortiz would come out with his hands raised in a showdown against Ennis.
“Vergil’s a monster,” continued Mora. “He’s accustomed to seeing guys like this. Vergil’s too big, too strong, too powerful. He has a wicked jab too, he has that high defensive guard. I would love to see it. Boots is special but size matters.”