Roiman Villa and Jaron Ennis will clash on the headline bout for Showtimes telecast come July 8 at Borgata in Atlantic City.
Villa will face his toughest challenge in eight years as a professional boxer. The highly anticipated 12-round, 147-pound main event will be televised by Showtime and held at the Borgata Hotel Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Ennis, hailing from Philadelphia, currently holds the IBF interim welterweight title, and he will defend it against Villa, whose impressive record stands at 26 wins (24 by knockout) and only one loss. Villa is ranked second among the IBF's contenders in the welterweight division, with the number one spot currently vacant.
Both Ennis and Villa recently fought on the undercard of the Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia bout at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. Villa's victory over the previously undefeated Rashidi Ellis propelled him up the rankings and positioned him as a worthy opponent for Ennis. Ennis, who has expressed a desire to test himself against elite-level welterweights like Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr., finally has a chance to prove himself against Villa.
In his fight against Ellis, Villa showcased his aggressive style and eventually wore down his opponent with relentless pressure, resulting in two 12th-round knockdowns that secured him the victory on two scorecards. The judges Dave Braslow and Paul Wallace scored the fight 114-112 in favor of Villa, while Judge Tammye Jenkins saw it as a draw, scoring it 113-113.
Ennis, on the other hand, faced little-known Ukrainian contender Karen Chukhadzhian in his last bout. Despite winning every round on all three scorecards, Ennis faced criticism for his failure to knock out Chukhadzhian, who managed to go the distance. Prior to that fight, Ennis had an impressive record of winning each of his previous 19 bouts by knockout or technical knockout.
Beatrice Adamu is a writer for AceTVBoxing.com. She can be reached on Twitter @oh_stillbella or via email: adamubeatrice13@gmail.com.
Tyron Finney
Jun 5, 2023I’ll be in the building for this fight