Josh Kelly vs. Jaron Ennis | Unification - Who wins?

[Ruthless-RKO]

ENNIS: TOUGHEST FIGHT AT 154 POUNDS IS JOSH KELLY

Sebastian Fundora might look like the toughest matchup for anybody at 154 pounds, but not according to Jaron Ennis.

Ennis, the WBA and WBO junior middleweight champion, spoke live on TNT during the coverage of Andy Ruiz's unanimous decision defeat to Damian Knyba Friday night in Newark at the Prudential Center.

“The toughest fight I would say is Josh Kelly,” Ennis told Shawn Porter, Tim Bradley and Terence Crawford. “To me, he can box, he can move, this is what everybody saying I can't do. I’ll show y’all. Can’t nobody in this boxing game mess with me. These guys can’t do what I do.”

Fundora (24-1-1, 16 KOs), The Ring’s No. 3 ranked junior middleweight and WBC belt holder, is set to defend his crown against Ermal Hadribeaj, his mandatory challenger, on October 17 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. His last outing was a stoppage victory over former welterweight champion Keith Thurman in March.

With the 6-foot-5 Fundora busy taking care of his obligations, Ennis instructed his promoter Eddie Hearn to secure the Kelly fight.

Ranked No. 6 by The Ring, the IBF titlist is coming off a lackluster win over Caoimhin Agyarko July 25 on the Anthony Joshua-Kristian Prenga undercard.

Kelly suffered a deep gash to his nose in that win and Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs, 1 NC) wasn’t sure if the “Pretty Boy” would have enough time to heal up from his wounds before facing him.

However, The Ring’s No. 1-ranked 154-pounder says negotiations have gone smoothly. As for when fans can expect to see it, Ennis, who stopped Xander Zayas to become a unified champion in June, hinted it could be soon.

“I think we’re going to see it for sure by the end of the year,” Ennis said. “My whole thing is becoming undisputed. I feel like you’re the man once you do that.”

[forcefraser]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the one. Eddie Hearn has put this three-belt junior middleweight unification at "80%" for November or December, both men sit under the same Matchroom roof, and boxing — for once in its cursed, self-sabotaging life — looks like it might actually deliver the fight the people are screaming for.

Josh Kelly is the sweet-science savant, the Sunderland silk-and-switch merchant who was written off, buried and eulogised, only to rise from the ashes with a world title round his waist. He took the belt off the avoided man, Bakhram Murtazaliev, then gutted out a hard-fought unanimous decision over Caoimhin Agyarko in Jeddah with a nose that went through the wars and came out the other side needing a surgeon. Heart of a lion, feet of a ballerina, and the chin of a man who has already been to hell and bought the T-shirt. Across from him stands Jaron "Boots" Ennis, a once-in-a-generation freak of nature, a switch-hitting nightmare, the boogeyman nobody wanted at 147 and nobody wants at 154. He blasted out Xander Zayas in the seventh to claim the WBA and WBO straps, and he does the thing power punchers simply are not supposed to be able to do: glide in, load up, throw with ease and slide straight back out again. When he smells blood, the accelerator goes through the floor.

The opening four rounds will be chess, not checkers. Kelly on the back foot, feinting, spinning, painting on the canvas, banking rounds with pure movement and making the boogeyman look almost — almost — ordinary. The travelling support starts to believe. Then, somewhere around the fifth, the levels reveal themselves. Ennis switches southpaw and the entire geometry of the fight changes. Kelly is brilliant, but brilliance without a deterrent is just punishment on a delay, and he simply does not carry the pop to force the respect he needs. Boots does have the odd habit of switching off and letting opponents claw their way back into the argument, so Kelly will steal rounds out of sheer refusal to go quietly.

By the championship rounds it is the moment of truth. One right hand lands flush, the legs do that awful little dance, Adam Booth is on the apron with his heart in his mouth, and the tide becomes a tsunami. Kelly, warrior to the last, refuses to fold, but there is only so long you can hold back the ocean with your bare hands.
Ennis by late stoppage, somewhere around the tenth. Kelly proves he belongs on the biggest stage in the sport and leaves with his reputation enhanced and his face rearranged; Boots leaves one belt away from undisputed and another chapter added to the legend. The caveat, because boxing adores a punchline, is that Kelly has spent his entire career being underestimated, and that nose surgery in late July leaves him precious little runway before he starts absorbing Ennis's power in earnest. If he is not one hundred percent, this could be a great deal shorter than anybody wants. And if he is, well — stranger things have happened in the theatre of the unexpected.

If anyone even dares to challenge the above as AI created drivel, I will not even try to defend it

[JamesPhilips]

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the one. Eddie Hearn has put this three-belt junior middleweight unification at "80%" for November or December, both men sit under the same Matchroom roof, and boxing — for once in its cursed, self-sabotaging life — looks like it might actually deliver the fight the people are screaming for.

Josh Kelly is the sweet-science savant, the Sunderland silk-and-switch merchant who was written off, buried and eulogised, only to rise from the ashes with a world title round his waist. He took the belt off the avoided man, Bakhram Murtazaliev, then gutted out a hard-fought unanimous decision over Caoimhin Agyarko in Jeddah with a nose that went through the wars and came out the other side needing a surgeon. Heart of a lion, feet of a ballerina, and the chin of a man who has already been to hell and bought the T-shirt. Across from him stands Jaron "Boots" Ennis, a once-in-a-generation freak of nature, a switch-hitting nightmare, the boogeyman nobody wanted at 147 and nobody wants at 154. He blasted out Xander Zayas in the seventh to claim the WBA and WBO straps, and he does the thing power punchers simply are not supposed to be able to do: glide in, load up, throw with ease and slide straight back out again. When he smells blood, the accelerator goes through the floor.

The opening four rounds will be chess, not checkers. Kelly on the back foot, feinting, spinning, painting on the canvas, banking rounds with pure movement and making the boogeyman look almost — almost — ordinary. The travelling support starts to believe. Then, somewhere around the fifth, the levels reveal themselves. Ennis switches southpaw and the entire geometry of the fight changes. Kelly is brilliant, but brilliance without a deterrent is just punishment on a delay, and he simply does not carry the pop to force the respect he needs. Boots does have the odd habit of switching off and letting opponents claw their way back into the argument, so Kelly will steal rounds out of sheer refusal to go quietly.

By the championship rounds it is the moment of truth. One right hand lands flush, the legs do that awful little dance, Adam Booth is on the apron with his heart in his mouth, and the tide becomes a tsunami. Kelly, warrior to the last, refuses to fold, but there is only so long you can hold back the ocean with your bare hands.
Ennis by late stoppage, somewhere around the tenth. Kelly proves he belongs on the biggest stage in the sport and leaves with his reputation enhanced and his face rearranged; Boots leaves one belt away from undisputed and another chapter added to the legend. The caveat, because boxing adores a punchline, is that Kelly has spent his entire career being underestimated, and that nose surgery in late July leaves him precious little runway before he starts absorbing Ennis's power in earnest. If he is not one hundred percent, this could be a great deal shorter than anybody wants. And if he is, well — stranger things have happened in the theatre of the unexpected.

If anyone even dares to challenge the above as AI created drivel, I will not even try to defend it

lol in the chat gpt prompt did you put “write in the style of Adam Smith commentating"

[Ruthless-RKO]

NEWS: Per sources involved, the Boots Ennis-Josh Kelly 154 unification fight Matchroom is putting together will take place at State Farm Arena in Atlanta though exact date is not set (late November/December). #boxing

[coneye]

Was impressed with Boots for a while , BUT like a lot i could'nt help but think can he go into deep waters when someone wants a shootout , and his last fight proved HELL YEH , So now i just think he will outbox , outfight , out everything , against Kelly

[Flump]

I can see Kelly outboxing him for a few rounds, but as the fight wears on, it will get tough for Josh. But, it's an interesting fight.

[JamesPhilips]

I can see Kelly outboxing him for a few rounds, but as the fight wears on, it will get tough for Josh. But, it's an interesting fight.

Kelly’s fragility is what worries me. Would love to see him win but I’m not very confident