By Elliot Raines: Andre Ward argues that Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is starting to run out of time and should start fighting higher level opponents such as the winner of Saturday’s Vergil Ortiz Jr. bout. and Erickson Lubin.
Gym Wars, no real tests
Boxing podcaster Ward says Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) will soon be 30 years old, and he’s fought strictly lower-level opponents without stepping it up against A-level opposition. He says Ennis has become a gym rat, and this involves him in very hard sparring sessions. Ward thinks that Ennis is overdoing it.
“Too much of anything is not a good thing. You can leave a lot of your best moments in the gym,” Ward said. All The Smoke about ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Andre says the combination of sparring and lower-level opposition can give Ennis a “false sense” of his reality, making him believe he can take a beating from elite fighters. This habit could backfire for ‘Boots’ when he steps it up against the elite level, starting with winning the Ortiz Jr. vs. Erickson fight if he encounters one of the following two.
“If you spend too long at a certain level, you start to get a false sense of yourself,” Ward said. “He says to himself, ‘I can take a shot. I walk through that, why can’t I walk through this? I walk through this in sparring.’ Sparring is different from a fight.”
Little time
Andre says that without Ennis facing “real danger”, he is not testing his true abilities, especially on defense. He’s untested, and that’s not a good thing for a fighter his age after nine years in the pro ranks. If he does Vergil Ortiz Jr. next. or face Lubin, he won’t be ready for this level due to his delayed career path.
“He’s 35 and 0 and he hasn’t fought an elite guy,” Ward said of Ennis. “You still have to deal with the fact that you haven’t had that type of danger that you need on the other side of the ring to engage your senses at the highest level.”
Ennis is about to turn 29, and the clock is ticking on him. He is not yet developed, and he is wasting his potential by working at a lower level. Once again, the gym wars take something from Ennis without giving him anything in return.
“From a developmental point of view, if you’re going to be the king of any division … he’s 28 years old, he’s going to blink and be 30,” Ward said on Ennis.
Elliot Raines has been covering British and European boxing since 2010. Known for his sharp pen and low tolerance for hype, Raines analyzes the sport’s politics, promoters and paper champions with dry precision.
Last updated on 11/05/2025
