Jack Catterall has been sparring with former welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, helping him prepare for his October 11 debut at 154 against Uisma Lima in Philadelphia.
Catterall Sparring With Jaron Ennis
The sparring that Catterall (31-2, 13 KOs) is doing also serves the purpose of preparing him for his clash against Ekow Essuman on the Chris Eubank Jr. vs. Conor Benn 2 undercard on November 15 at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, Tottenham in London, England.
Fans are concerned that the grueling sparring that Catterall is doing with ‘Boot’s Ennis could adversely affect him in the same way that many believe hurt Canelo Alvarez’s performance in his loss to Terence Crawford on September 13.
DAZN PPV Undercard on November 15
- Jack Catterall vs. Ekow Essuman
- Adam Azim vs. Zaur Abdullaev
- Richard Riakporhe vs. Tommy Welch
- Sam Gilley vs. Ishmael Davis
- Mikie Tallon vs. Fezan Shahid
Pictures of a beat-up-looking Canelo, gloved up, standing side by side with Ennis in a ring during camp indicate that the young 28-year-old phenom wore the Mexican star down during camp. This, in turn, may have left Alvarez the depleted, war-torn fighter that Crawford took advantage of in their Turki Alalshikh-financed superfight at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. Crawford won a close 12-round unanimous decision in that fight.
Ringside Take: Catterall’s Ennis Sparring a Risk Before Essuman
You can only assume that Ennis took the best part of Canelo out of him, leaving the empty husk that the opportunistic Crawford took advantage of to win a razor-close decision. What effect did ‘Boots’ have on Alvarez from the hard sparring? Will he do the same thing to Catterall, leaving him vulnerable and easy prey for Ekow to feed on?
Sparring with Ennis could be Catterall’s downfall because he can ill-afford to be depleted, beaten up, and half-stunned when he goes up against Essusman (22-1, 8 KOs) in their co-feature fight on November 15.
It’s only Catterall’s second fight at welterweight, and he didn’t look impressive in his debut in the weight class against domestic-level fighter, Harlem Eubank, on July 5. Catterall won the fight by a seven-round technical unanimous decision after he and Eubank were both cut from a clash of heads in the seventh. Catterall took a lot of punishment in the fight.
In Catterall’s previous bout, he lost to Arnold Barboza Jr. by a 12-round split decision on February 15, 2025. The scores were 115-113 for Catterall, 115-113, and 115-113 for Barboza Jr.
Punch stats for Catterall vs. Barboza Jr.
- Jack Catterall: 71 punches landed of 300 thrown for 23.7%
- Arnold Barboza Jr: 89 of 434 for 20.5%.
Iron sharpens Iron 🤝@JaronEnnis and @jack_catt93 working together ahead of #EubankBenn2 & #EnnisLima 🔥#EnnisLima | Oct 11 | Live on DAZN pic.twitter.com/5qqELYFRrh
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) September 28, 2025
“Getting him that Philadelphia style, getting him out of that British environment, and getting him some gym wars, I like this trainer change,” said analyst Sergio Mora to DAZN Boxing, reacting to Jack Catterall changing trainers to Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis.
“When you come up short and want to change the trajectory of your career, you got to think about a switch because you only have a certain amount of career left,” said Mora.
Olly Campbell has been covering the boxing world since 2015, delivering sharp ringside analysis and in-depth fight breakdowns with a fan’s passion and a journalist’s eye.
Last Updated on 09/28/2025
Read the full article here