Jaron Ennis is about to make his debut up at super welterweight against Uisma Lima to begin what he hopes will be a fast conquest over one of the most talent-stacked divisions in the sport. 

‘Boots’ was a dominant force at welterweight, undefeated in 34 fights with 30 knockouts to become the IBF and  WBA champion after forcing Eimantas Stanionis to retire on his stool before deciding that making 147lbs was no longer a worthy pursuit. 

Lima is a legitimate 154lbs contender with a 14-1 (10) record, only losing to Aaron McKenna at middleweight, but is since unbeaten in his last four fights. 

At his best, Ennis looks unbeatable. His instinctive head movement and ring IQ are abilities that cannot be trained – it is a gift. But as ‘Boots’ has climbed the levels of boxing, there is one small weakness that has appeared.

So what is this weakness that Lima, if he is smart enough to spot, can potentially exploit tomorrow night to cause a massive upset in front of Ennis’ home support in Philadelphia? 

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Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing

Over-reliance on head movement

Ennis's head movement and counterpunching are the most eye-catching parts of his game – he is one of the best in the world at being able to make an opponent miss by an inch and return fire with heavy counter shots. 

But the American is fast and loose with his defence, which is good to watch but incredibly risky against the elite-level opposition Ennis is yet to face. 

When at range, it is much less problematic as his speed and power are enough to freeze an opponent and by the time they have responded to a combination, he is able to lean back, pulling out of range. 

But in his last two fights against Karen Chukhadzhian and Eimantis Stanionis, the best fighters he has faced, his flashy antics and style have revealed a small weakness - his relaxed hands on the inside. 

Traditional wisdom says it is acceptable to have low hands at long range, as you have space to retreat away from the end of a shot or see it coming. But when you step into the mid or close range, your hands should go up, your diaphragm should be tucked, and your chin ought to be down to protect all the scoring areas. 

Whether it is overconfidence or a bad habit, when Ennis gets close, he enters with his hands up, but drops them almost immediately as he begins to throw shots and relies on his reactions to be able to turn his head away from or slip a shot. 

Against Stanionis, Ennis found himself getting caught with counter left hooks and right hands because the Lithuanian was coming back with more than one shot on the counter, which is exponentially harder to avoid at close range. 

But Ennis does not utilise effective hand defence on the inside, only ever going as far as turning into a ‘Philly Shell', which is vulnerable to body shots and overhand rights.  

We also saw against Chukhadzian that he almost never has his lead hand high and got caught with a big counter left hook that caught him off-balance him in the second round as he charged in with a 1-2. 

In an ideal world, when you throw out the jab, your rear hand will remain on the chin and as you launch the rear hand, your lead hand gets pulled back to the chin to prevent a counter hook like that landing. 

The problem only worsens for Ennis if the fight goes into the championship rounds, as the ‘Philly Shell' he adopts in close becomes even more relaxed, and his rear hand sometimes drops below the line of his chin, allowing Chukhdzian to land more and more hooks down the stretch. 

Ennis, using his considerable size, power and skill advantage over these two fighters, ended up comfortably coming through both fights. But moving up in weight provides a new challenge for people who are of similar size and power. 

If Ennis gets caught on the inside with a shot from a powerful 154-pounder, then it might be a different story if his defensive languidness is exposed. 

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Why does this suit Lima?

Lima is a well-established super welterweight and has fought up at middleweight. He will have a slight height advantage over Ennis and has very similar dimensions. 

He likes to be the hunter and throws punches in bunches to overwhelm his opponents. His one-punch knockout power is not quite at the level of Ennis, but in his 10 knockouts, he has used his high punch output to wear his opponents down and breach their defences as the fight wears on. 

The Angolan fighter also shows impressive variety when he is up close and throws almost constantly, which, paired with a tight defensive guard, has made him hard to break down, and he has shown a great chin to never be stopped. 

If Lima can force the action up close then he stands a more than decent chance of landing one of the many shots he throws throughout the course of a fight and he could wear Ennis down.

How can Lima capitalise? 

It is imperative on fight night that Lima does not allow Ennis to dictate the range and pace of the fight from the outset. If he does not get active immediately, he will allow Ennis to get his range and timing to set up his dynamite counters.

Ennis is dangerous on the back foot, but if Lima can make him feel his size and heavy hands, then it might be enough to neutralise him in the early goings when he is at his sharpest and most powerful. 

He can do this by putting immediate pressure on and sticking close to Ennis, forcing him to fight up close where his defence is too relaxed and using his impressive variety of shots on the inside to be unpredictable. 

This makes it much harder for Ennis to avoid shots, as most head movement is pre-emptive and as a result of common pattern recognition. This means if Lima can avoid being predictable by mixing up the timing and power on his shots, Ennis will be forced into being reactive rather than proactive in his defence. 

If Lima can catch him early it might force Ennis into his shell, allowing him to open up in the latter rounds. 

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Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing

Can Lima pull off a huge upset? 

Ennis is one of the most well-rounded fighters on the planet today, so forcing him into his shell is no easy task, but his last two performances were not the best we have seen from Ennis. 

He has shown the world that he is a hittable target if you can get close enough and this is a risky place to be when foraying up in weight. 

Lima will be a heavy underdog heading into the fight, but might just have the right ingredients to cause an upset if he can make small adjustments to make him a more imposing figure in the ring. 

It might also be the perfect time to catch Ennis as he makes his debut at a new weight against a fighter he admitted to having no prior knowledge of. If Lima can use this to his advantage by bringing something new to the fight then he might just be able to give Ennis something to think about and pull off a huge shock.

Watch Jaron Ennis vs. Uisma Lima live on DAZN

Ennis vs. Lima is live on DAZN this Saturday night, October 11. Watch the fight and whole card with a DAZN subscription.

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