Jason Ennis appears to be something very, very special.
Ennis’s skills were on display once again this past week, when he stopped the very capable veteran Thomas Dulorme in the first round. A big overhand right sent Dulorme to the canvas, and a follow up series of punches closed the show moments later.
Prior to that fight, Dulorme had faced the likes of Jessie Vargas, Terence Crawford, Jamal James, Yordenis Ugas, Hank Lundy, Karim Mayfield, and others. But Ennis was the only man who was able to blow him away in just a round.
Watching the contest, former IBF and WBC welterweight champion Shawn Porter couldn’t help but offer up his praise of the young fighter from Philadelphia.
“He’s too much,” Porter told FightHype.com. “He’s just too much. When you’ve got somebody who’s just so intuitive in the ring, so intelligent in the ring, and then got the speed and the quickness, the agility, the power, clearly, the everything to back it up, it’s like he’s too much. And he was too much for Dulorme.”
Porter maintains that Dulorme is far from a washed up fighter, and admittedly got excited seeing the fight play out the way it did.
“I think there was a little piece of me that was hyped up on him getting in the ring so as soon as the first knockdown happened it was like ‘Jaron doing Jaron’,” said Porter. “And then when the fight ended, I think he earned that. Dulrome’s not washed up, Dulorme’s not over the hill. I think if Dulorme had the opportunity he would have made it a fight, but Jaron is too much.”
Now comes the question of how Ennis, who is just 24 years old with a 28-0 record (26 knockouts), would do against the elite of the welterweight class. That list includes names such as WBO champion Terence Crawford, IBF/WBC champion Errol Spence Jr., WBA champion Yordenis Ugas, former champions Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia, as well as himself.
Porter stayed on the fence regarding the question.
“I’m not gonna answer that question,” said Porter. “He’s ready (to contend with them). He’s ready; when you ready, you ready. It’s only a matter of time before you prove that to everyone but when you been watching as long as I’ve been watching, I feel like I have that eye in sports, in general. Jaron has the it.”
Porter of course has a very lofty assignment of his own coming up. On November 20 he will be facing off with Crawford in Las Vegas in an intriguing fight on ESPN pay per view. That matchup figures to be a difficult one for the Ohio fighter, who has wins over the likes of (Danny) Garcia, Ugas, and competitive losses to Thurman, Spence, and Kell Brook.
Whoever wins that fight, between Porter and Crawford, will surely be looking at Ennis as a very legitimate threat, whether they want to face him or not.
But Ennis’ date with a title shot may still be a little bit down the road. He is entering the phase of his career where the competition will continue to step up, and he will likely be facing some top 10 guys here very soon.
