WASHINGTON – Rashidi Ellis and Jaron Ennis moved around the ring just a few minutes apart Wednesday, when they participated in an open workout.
Ellis watched from a few feet away as Ennis did pad work at Kennedy Recreation Center, but he is intrigued by the idea of sharing a ring with Ennis next if the undefeated welterweights win their fights Saturday night on the Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia undercard at Capital One Arena. Ennis would become a more appealing option for Ellis if, as the lopsided odds suggest, the heavily favored Philadelphia native defeats Ukraine’s Karen Chukhadzhian in their 12-round fight for the IBF interim welterweight title.
In the bout before Ennis encounters Chukhadzhian, Ellis will participate in what figures to be a more competitive 10-round, 147-pound fight versus Venezuela’s Roiman Villa.
Ellis-Ennis has been discussed behind the scenes. If Ellis is to accept that type of dangerous assignment, however, he just wants to be compensated appropriately.
“I’ll fight anybody,” Ellis told BoxingScene.com. “If they’re paying, I’m playing. So, I don’t care who it is. Sh*t, I’ll fight Mike Tyson in his prime if the money’s good.”
Ennis isn’t nearly as feared as Tyson was when the legendary former champion terrorized the heavyweight division during the second half of the 1980s, until Buster Douglas destroyed his aura of invincibility in February 1990. The 25-year-old contender is extraordinarily talented, though, and is seen as a high-risk, low-reward proposition even for undefeated, elite-level welterweights like Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford.
Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs, 1 NC) is already the number one contender for Spence’s IBF belt, but a fight against Ellis seems more realistic for Ennis if he can conquer Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KOs) in Showtime Pay-Per-View’s 12-round co-feature before Davis squares off against Garcia in the 12-round main event ($74.99; 9 p.m. ET).
“He’s a good fighter,” Ellis said of Ennis. “I’m not gonna hate on him. That’s why I think it’ll be a great fight, a super fight. People are sleeping on that fight, but right now I’m worrying about my fight with Villa.”
The hard-hitting Villa (25-1, 24 KOs) dropped previously unbeaten Janelson Bocachica in the second round of his last fight and went on to win an eight-round unanimous decision September 9 at Bally’s Event Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Villa, who took their fight on short notice, defeated Detroit’s Bocachica (17-1-1, 11 KOs) by scores of 79-71, 79-71 and 78-72.
“Truthfully, I didn’t see the whole fight,” Ellis said. “I saw the highlights. In the highlights, it looked like [Villa] whupped his ass. He was just throwing bombs and coming forward.”
The 29-year-old Ellis (24-0, 15 KOs), of Lynn, Massachusetts, will fight for just the second time since his 12-round, unanimous-decision victory over Alexis Rocha (21-1, 13 KOs) in October 2020 at Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California. Ellis dropped Jose Marrufo (14-11-2, 2 KOs) twice and stopped the Mexican veteran in the first round of his most recent bout, which took place July 9 at Alamodome in San Antonio.
“He’s a great fighter,” Ellis said of Villa, “so when I win this fight it’s gonna show how good I really am. It’s like a little sample.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
