Ennis Takes On IBO World Champion Lima In Jr. Middleweight Debut

It goes almost without saying nowadays that unless a fighter is a natural Heavyweight, most fighters that make it to the world championship level and achieve that goal, tend to set their sights on multiple weight classes in search of more world championship gold as well as and perhaps more specifically, bigger paydays. In the case of Jaron Ennis, an undefeated World Welterweight champion, who seemed poised to take over the 147lb. Welterweight division in the era immediately following the exit of Terence Crawford, the division’s last undisputed world champion, he has made the decision to move up in weight rather than trying to complete the unification process at Welterweight after successfully unifying the IBF and WBA world titles with a sixth round stoppage of previously unbeaten WBA world champion Eimantas Stanionis in April of this year. Despite the potential to add his name next to Crawford and other notable legends like Sugar Ray Leonard and Donald Curry as fighters who went on to claim status as an undisputed world champion during their time atop the Welterweight division, Ennis has instead opted to move up in weight to the 154lb. Jr. Middleweight division where he will face current International Boxing Organization (IBO) Jr. Middleweight world champion Uisma Lima on Saturday, October 11th in Ennis' hometown of Philadelphia, PA at the Wells Fargo Center in a scheduled twelve round bout that can be seen worldwide on digital sports subscription streaming network DAZN. Lima, who holds the distinction as the first fighter from Angola to ever hold a world championship, will enter this fight with a record of 14-1, with 10 Knockouts.

Despite holding a world championship that he won in December of last year and has successfully defended it once since then, Lima is largely unknown and basically comes into this encounter with Ennis as a world champion that is under the radar. Lima has scored knockouts of over 70% of his opposition, so the question that looms over this fight will be how Lima, a boxer/puncher will perform against the significantly more experienced and higher profile Ennis, who will come into this bout unbeaten with a record of 34-0, with 30 Knockouts having knocked out 88% of his previous opponents entering this fight.

What is also unknown as this fight approaches is whether the IBO world championship in the Jr. Middleweight division, which Lima currently holds, will be on the line or if this will be a non-title bout scheduled for the world championship distance of twelve rounds. The IBO, which was founded in the late 1980’s and incorporated in the early 1990’s, and is based here in the United States, has struggled for consistent recognition, particularly in this country as a world sanctioning organization, the fifth major world sanctioning organization in the sport. It is an organization, however, that in addition to having many notable fighters and Hall of Famers, male and female hold its world championship in various weight divisions throughout the entire sport, is held in higher regard internationally, which in addition to its computerized-based approach to rankings, can on occasion create a scenario like this where a world champion, who is well-traveled as Lima has been in competing in multiple countries throughout his career, but a fighter who will be competing in the United States for the first time, is regarded as an unknown entity. This observer has been unable to confirm as is this writing as to whether or not the world title Lima holds will indeed be on the line in this bout.

While some who particularly take a more cynical view of sanctioning organizations and choose not to view them as the legitimate entities that they for better or worse are, no matter what happens in this fight, it will have no impact on the IBO’s standing. If, Lima can produce a solid performance, however, it will provide further evidence that just because a fighter may not be what is sometimes referred to as a “Household Name" does not mean they should be taken lightly both by their opponent who might be more well known and by fans, even though in an era increasingly dominated by worldwide streaming, it is becoming harder for fighters to be completely under the radar.

As for what type of fight one can expect when Ennis and Lima square off? Like Jaron Ennis, Uisma Lima is a come forward pressure fighter. What will make this potentially interesting is Lima is a southpaw that is tall, rangy, knows how to control distance well, and often comes forward throwing punches with both hands. The question here might be whether Lima’s physical advantages and offensive approach will be enough against a fighter in Ennis that while he might be moving up in weight, has shown the ability to end a fight with either hand in often brutal fashion. If the power he displayed as a Welterweight is able to carry with him as he moves up in weight, Ennis will be no less dangerous and any opponent will have to approach with caution. We will see what Uisma Lima can do on Saturday, October 11th.

“And That's The Boxing Truth." 

Update: Shortly after completion of this column, it was able to be confirmed that the IBO Jr. Middleweight world championship currently held by Uisma Lima will not be at stake, but the bout is being billed as a final elimination bout in the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) Jr. Middleweight ratings where the winner will be given Interim/Regular champion status in the WBA rankings. As of this writing, win or lose Lima will still be IBO world champion.

Ennis vs. Lima takes place on Saturday, October 11th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, PA. The fight as well as its full undercard can be seen on digital subscription sports streaming network DAZN beginning at 5:15 PM ET/2:15 PM with Before The Bell, which will feature preliminary bouts followed by the main card that will begin at 8PM ET/5PM PT. 

(*North American Times Only.*)

(*Card and Start Times Subject to Change*)

For more information about DAZN including schedules, list of compatible streaming devices, platforms, Smart TVs, Availability around the world, local start times in your area, and to subscribe please visit: www.DAZN.com. 

The Boxing Truth®️ is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on the following Social Media Platforms:

X: (Formerly Twitter) www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison      

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BeauDenison1     

Threads: www.threads.net/@BeauDenison1   

Instagram: www.Instagram.com/BeauDenison1 

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/beaudenison1.bsky.social 

Ennis Breaks Stanionis Down To Increase Welterweight Supremacy

The Welterweight unification between undefeated world champions Jaron Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis was one that represented a step forward for a division still very much in transition. A transition that began with former undisputed champion Terence Crawford choosing to move out of the 147lb. Welterweight division to seek more lucrative opportunities as he is at a stage in his career where after successfully unifying two weight divisions, the Jr. Welterweight division, followed by the Welterweight division in the last several years, where it may be more about what fights will earn him the biggest money possible as well as those mythical “Legacy Defining" bouts, which are always subject to debate, rather than necessarily choosing to stay in one division and trying to dominate against all comers.

While almost all great fighters who establish Hall of Fame resumes as Crawford has eventually reach that point, what can be a challenge that can be an at times unwinnable one at least in the court of public opinion is for the fighters who remain to establish themselves as a division's next central figure without getting the opportunity to face the previous fighter with that distinction either because of that fighter moving out of the division or because of choosing to retire. Both Ennis and Stanionis found themselves in that position.

Despite this and the fact that both fighters are still at a stage in their careers where they are developing and trying to increase their name recognition value, this fight presented something of a rarity in the sport of Boxing that should be seen as refreshing. After all, it is not really common, if nothing else due to the politics that be in the sport to see two unbeaten world champions put not only their records, but also their respective world championships on the line, without the typical grandstanding/posturing that usually occurs, and without sufficient public demand that the fight takes place. Although this fight went against that all too often used formula, the sport will benefit from it as it allowed one of these fighters to take a step forward and in doing so, allowed the Welterweight division a necessary step towards determining it's next central figure.

On April 12th Ennis and Stanionis met at the legendary Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. Ennis, the IBF world champion, Stanionis, the WBA world champion. Only one would take a step forward, while the other would be forced to take a step back.

Ennis would quickly establish that he would be the fighter dictating how the combat would be fought by frequently getting his punches off first, often in combination, and forcing Stanionis to fight from behind a high defensive guard. What this accomplishes for fighters that are able to do this is one, it paints a clear picture as to who is dictating things, but it also significantly limits an opponent's ability to not only get their punches off consistently, but to also find a consistent offensive rhythm. In this case, Ennis was able to largely nullify one of Stanionis’ primary weapons, the jab and was able to control the fight largely by being the more active of the two fighters and keeping Stanionis defending against punches, rather than throwing his own consistently. 

As the fight progressed and Stanionis was able to apply pressure in trying to push Ennis back towards the ropes, the WBA world champion would find periodic success in landing hard hooks to the head of Ennis at points when the IBF world champion would drop his hands at times, which would would allow for an opening for Stanionis to land. 

Unfortunately for Stanionis, however, those moments would be sporadic at best and he was unable to quell Ennis’ offensive rhythm, as he gradually began to suffer the accumulative effects of a beating that Ennis was administering. In round six, a left hook to the body followed by some punches to the head that were partially blocked sent Stanionis down on one knee on the canvas. This was a scenario where even though he had gone down from a combination of blows, it was the hook to the body, which was the culprit in sending him down with a delayed reaction. 

With his nose bloodied and seemingly looking like a fighter who was suffering a beating, but had no answer for how to combat his opponent effectively, Stanionis showed his mettle by getting up from the knockdown and finishing the round. Having seen what was occurring and looking out for their fighter’s best interests long-term, Stanionis’ corner stopped the fight at the end of round six making Jaron Ennis the winner and now the unified IBF/WBA World Welterweight champion.

Ultimately, this fight was a step forward for Jaron Ennis, but one that arguably puts him in the position of now being able to dictate terms should either current WBC world champion Mario Barrios, WBO world champion Brian Norman, or IBO world champion Tulani Mbenge want to increase their stake in the World Welterweight championship and thus the Welterweight division as a whole. While certainly no disrespect is intended to any of these three world champions by this observer, because they are in fact world champions and deserve the respect that goes with it, neither of the three are really in a position where they could pass on a potential fight with Ennis based solely on name recognition value. Although all three fighters, Barrios, Norman, and Mbenge are world-class fighters, there still lacks the type of name recognition clout, particularly amongst casual fans that could see potential negotiations stall while the division’s four current world champions continue competing against other opposition in the normally crowded Welterweight ranks.

With the incentive that brought Jaron Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis to the table with each looking to increase their hold on the division still very much in the equation, the best both those of us who cover the sport as well as the public can hope for is that the Welterweights are once again on a path towards fully unifying the division and all the current champions should want the same goal to be Undisputed world champion and that will lead to further unification bouts taking place in a more streamlined way than the grandstanding approach, which usually results in fights taking several years to be made. Boxing as a whole will benefit greatly if that is the case. 

“And That's The Boxing Truth." 

The Boxing Truth®️ is a registered trademark of Beau Denison All Rights Reserved.

Follow Beau Denison on the following Social Media Platforms:

X: (Formerly Twitter) www.twitter.com/Beau_Denison     

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BeauDenison1     

Threads: www.threads.net/@BeauDenison1     

Instagram: www.Instagram.com/BeauDenison1   

BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/beaudenison1.bsky.social