Jaron Ennis hopes to simply be known as ‘Boots’ someday

In boxing, it’s a badge of honor to be known only by a nickname. Nobody calls Canelo Alvarez by his first name, Saul. Gervonta Davis is simply “Tank.” To many fans stateside, Naoya Inoue is just “The Monster.”

Soon, there will be another nickname in that mix. But it’s not as menacing as you might think.

Boots.

Welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis, who fights Thomas Dulorme on Saturday night at Michelob Ultra Arena, could be boxing’s next pound-for-pound star. But as he readies for his Las Vegas debut, he’s still an unknown to many outside the sport’s hardcore fan base.

Ennis-Dulorme will serve as the co-feature to the welterweight fight between Jamal James and Radzhab Butaev, airing Saturday at 7 p.m. on Showtime.

Boots was never supposed to be Boots. His mom initially nicknamed him “Boops,” but everyone in the gym misheard and started calling him Boots. It just stuck, for whatever reason. Now, nobody calls him Jaron.

Ennis grew up in the gym in Philadelphia, with his brothers and dad having been pro fighters. His dad, Derrick “Bozy” Ennis, now serves as his trainer. He watched his older brothers fight professionally but never achieve big-time success, and he wants to make sure he doesn’t make the same mistakes.

“They’d get a call or something like that, and they weren’t in shape and they had to lose weight and stuff like that,” he said. “Partying, stuff like that. I don’t do none of that. No partying, none of that. I just stay in the gym, just work on getting better each and every day.”

Ennis, 24, began his pro career in 2016 with an incredible spell of activity. He fought eight times in 2016, nine times in 2017 and five times in 2018. That got the attention of Stephen Espinoza, president of Showtime Sports. Ennis’ brothers had fought on Showtime, and Espinoza wanted to feature Boots, too.

“It became clear that Boots was special,” Espinoza said. “It wasn’t just that he was finishing guys quickly and walking through them, it’s that he was doing it so easily. As we increased the level of the opposition, he continued to perform the same.”

Promotional issues slowed his activity, though. When Ennis (27-0, 25 knockouts, one no decision) steps in the ring against Dulorme, it will be only his second fight this year. His first was a knockout win over former 140-pound titlist Sergey Lipinets in April, easily the best win of his career.

Dulorme (25-5-1, 16 KOs) has fought a who’s who of the 147-pound division, including titlists Terence Crawford and Yordenis Ugas. While Ennis is a massive favorite, it’s still an opportunity to make a statement to the rest of the division.

Ennis has his sights set on bigger and better things, though. He doesn’t care who it’s against, but he expects to be in a world title fight next year. Espinoza is confident he can deliver that for him. Eventually, though, Ennis plans to move up as high as 168 pounds.

“I feel like, I want to be undisputed champion in three or four different weight classes,” he said. “I’m great at everything. I’m well-rounded at everything. I fight orthodox, southpaw, I could fight on the inside, on the outside, whatever you need, I got it.”

Contact Jonah Dylan at jdylan@reviewjournal.com. Follow @TheJonahDylan on Twitter.