Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis posted an upbeat message on social media, telling his followers that it’s time to “showout” as he ramps up for his debut at 154 against Uisma Lima on October 11th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Ennis misjudged the fans when he chose Lima. He thought they would pour compliments over his head over this choice, anointing him as the uncrowned King of the 154-lb division. It’s not happened. Many fans have given up on Boots, realizing his whole career has been a sham, with a resume filled with tomato cans from top to bottom.
Fans Are Tired of Tune-Ups
Interestingly, instead of the fans circling their wagons around ‘Boots,’ they lashed out at him, criticizing him for picking the bottom-feeder Lima (14-1, 10 KOs) as his opponent in yet another tune-up fight.
Ennis and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, believe that it’s necessary to take a fight against a contender to get used to fighting at junior middleweight. The problem is, they picked someone too weak, too obscure, and too unskilled for it to be a true test.
Lima is a fighter who was soundly beaten by British fighter Aaron McKenna by a one-sided 10-round unanimous decision in 2023. He lost almost every round of that fight, and McKenna isn’t even rated highly.
“It’s not a good look for Jaron Ennis. If he struggles with this guy. The longer this fight goes, the worse it’s going to look for Ennis. I just don’t like this fight. Even for stay-busy fight, even as a fight to test your waters at 154, I hate it,” said Sergio Mora to Chris Mannix’s channel, reacting to Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis choosing to fight an obscure fringe contender in his debut at 154 in October.
A Terrible Look for ‘Boots’
It’s a terrible look for Ennis with his choice of the 32-year-old Angolan-born Uisma Lima as his opponent. This is not a big enough name to move the needle. What makes it even worse is that the much older, 37-year-old Terence Crawford showed more courage in his recent debut at 154, picking then WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov as his opponent last year.
“I’m a big fan of ‘Boots,’ I’m a huge fan of his. I think he’s the future of boxing, but this is a step in the wrong direction in order to become a star,” said Mora.
Sergio is correct. Ennis and his promoter, Eddie Hearn, selecting Uisma Lima as his next opponent on DAZN was a dumb move because this guy is not a big enough name to give ‘Boots’ any credit. Moreover, fans have already grown tired of the mediocre tune-up level fights that Jaron has been taking in the last four years.
For a fighter that has been hyped as much as Ennis has, his resume is 100% barren of quality names. It’s no wonder the fans are angry at his latest pick, Uisma Lima, as his choice to his first fight at 154. Ennis could have chosen Jesus Ramos Jr., Israil Madrimov, Serhii Bohachuk, or Erickson Lubin as his opponent. The fans would have praised him.
Ennis needed to step up a long time ago and begin fighting high-quality fighters, but instead, he’s played it safe, padding his record with these middle-of-the-road fighters:
– David Avanesyan
– Karen Chukhadzhian
– Roiman Villa
– Eimantas Stanionis
– Custio Clayton
– Sergey Lipinets
– Chris Van Heerden
Its that time again! 😈It’s time to showout and get in Mr. Catchabody mode🐺⚰️ #LockedIn🔒 Road to 35-0 💣 #154Debut #2XWeightDivisionChampLoading 🤴🏾
— Boots (@JaronEnnis) August 18, 2025
Last Updated on 08/18/2025
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