Ennis vs Avanesyan Predictions: Challenger will get crushed under ‘Boots’

IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis defends his title against David Avanesyan this Saturday, July 13. The world title bout takes place at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. DAZN will screen the card live.

Here are my Ennis vs Avanesyan predictions as we get a good look at a future pound-for-pound prospect.

No fighter would choose to win a world championship outside of the ring. But such events are becoming a regular occurrence under the auspices of the IBF. Daniel Dubois was recently handed their heavyweight belt, promoted from interim status as Oleksandr Usyk vacated the title under threat of being stripped of it.

Ennis came to hold his own IBF strap the same way. ‘Boots’ won the interim bauble when he beat ​​Karen Chukhadzhian and went on to defend it opposite Roiman Villa. The IBF then stripped Terence Crawford of their title and bestowed Ennis with full title status.

Of course, in the case of both Dubois and Ennis, they had won at least a version of the title. But neither man had won the genuine article. The IBF continues to harm its standing by stripping undisputed champions like Crawford and Usyk. But it could at least salvage some meaning if it matched fighters for the vacant belts, rather than soliciting daft interim championships and promoting the fighters that win them. Modern boxing is a mess but let’s at least pretend it’s a functioning sport, shall we?

Whatever you think of the way Ennis has become a world champion, what is ineffable is his talent. This kid is serious. A stand-out amateur, there has been a real duck-to-water quality to his professional career. He has amassed 31 wins with 28 knockouts while suffering no defeats.

As is customary for a touted American prospect, his early prey was a veritable buffet of low-tier operators. The corpse of former contender Mike Arnaoutis in his 20th fight is the only name that stands out. But his recent activity has been at a higher level.

Former super lightweight champion Sergey Lipinets was blasted out in six rounds after providing a good test. Former Crawford challenger Thomas Dulorme couldn’t last a single round. Neither could Canadian Olympian Custio Clayton, who was stopped in two while suffering a first professional loss.

Those wins earned Ennis the aforementioned shot at the IBF interim belt. Now he operates as the full champion, taking on a first defence of that title here. Standing across from him will be former European welterweight David Avanesyan. 

Avanesyan shares Ennis’ experience as an interim world champion. The Russian boxer won the WBA version in 2015. Avanesyan even defended the belt with a decision win over the great Shane Mosley, albeit a 44-year-old version who retired in the aftermath. 

Like Ennis, he was eventually promoted to full championship status. But Avanesyan would not reign for long, losing his WBA welterweight title in his first defence against Lamont Peterson. A defeat to fast-rising Egidijus Kavaliauskas two bouts later looked like it might put paid to Avanesyan’s world title ambitions for good.

But the Russian relocated first to Spain and then the UK, taking the equivalent of some consecutive boxing gap years to find himself. Avanesyan racked up six knockout wins on his travels, including collecting the European welterweight title. His displays earned him a shot at WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.

Avanesyan came unstuck against ‘Bud’, as every opponent has against the unbeaten American great. Such was Crawford’s dominance, it looked like that might be that for ‘Ava’ at world level. The fact he followed the bout up with a knockout of 11-55-3 Serge Ambono, a journeyman he had already beaten back in, spoke of a man accepting his place in the pecking order.

But then unbeaten Canadian Cody Crowley pulled out of a world title match-up with ‘Boots’ Ennis. Avanesyan was recruited to fill the void and now the 35-year-old gets one last shot at redemption against one of the sport’s best young talents.

Ennis vs Avanesyan Fight Odds

Unsurprisingly, Ennis is a distant favourite at odds of 1/33. Avanesyan is bringing up the rear at 12/1, giving him a theoretical 7.7% chance of victory. The draw is priced up at 22/1.

Ennis vs Avanesyan Full Cards

Jaron Ennis vs. David Avanesyan; For Ennis' IBF welterweight title 

Henry Lebron vs. Christopher Diaz-Velez; Super featherweight 

Jalil Major Hackett vs. Peter Dobson; Welterweight 

Skye Nicolson vs. Dyana Vargas; For Nicolson's WBC women's featherweight title 

Khalil Coe vs. Manuel Gallegos; Light heavyweight 

Dennis Thompson vs. TBA; Bantamweight 

Ismail Muhammad vs. TBA; Welterweight 

Christian Carto vs. TBA; Bantamweight

Ennis vs Avanesyan Prediction

Ultimately, aside from a dalliance with the WBA belt almost a decade ago, Avanesyan isn’t quite cut out for this level. He performs well on the continent, but usually when the world spotlight is on he falls a little short.

Ennis doesn’t know how to fall short. ‘Boots’ has been a frighteningly consistent performer since turning pro. Offensively-devastating, defensively-tight. There is a reason the 27-year-old is touted to one day crack the pound-for-pound list.

With this in mind, I am picking the Ennis stoppage win in rounds 7-9 at 11/4. Avanesyan is not the man to derail Boots at this stage. It will be fascinating to see who is, if anyone.

You can find all our latest boxing betting tips and analysis at our Betfred Insights Boxing page and our latest boxing odds here.