By: Hans Themistode
Whether it’s a brand new Philadelphia business owner sprouting their wings and attempting to make their mark, or a newly crowned world champion from the City of Brotherly Love, Danny Garcia beams with pride whenever he sees someone from his hometown doing well.
For nearly 15 years, Garcia has carried the mantle as one of the more successful fighters in recent memory that was born and bred in Philadelphia. With the 34-year-old continuing to support his own, he’s nearly moved to tears as he discusses Jaron Ennis.
The 24-year-old has recently made headlines as one of the brightest young stars in the sport of boxing. In 2021, Ennis took his game to another level. To kick off his memorable year, Ennis brutally knocked out former 140-pound titleholder turned 147-pound contender, Sergey Lipinets. Ennis easily outboxed his man before laying down the hammer in the sixth.
To piggyback off his performance, Ennis took care of business against Thomas Dulorme at the tail end of the year. Though normally durable, Dulorme was left shellshocked following his first-round stoppage defeat.
As Ennis continues his meteoritic rise, Garcia believes that sooner or later, Ennis will become the welterweight division’s top dog.
“Philly support Philly,” said Garcia during an interview with FightHub TV. “He’s a young, hungry, up-and-coming fighter. He’s almost there to become a champion. Like I told him, he’s going to build his own legacy, just like I built my own legacy. I feel like the welterweight division, in one or two more fights, is going to open up. I feel like he’s going to be the one to take over that division.”
With Garcia currently contemplating a move up in weight, the former two-division titlist is still pondering his next move. Of course, with a ten-year age gap between them, Garcia doesn’t view Ennis as his primary competition.
Ultimately, having fought some of the best fighters in the world for nearly a decade and a half, including Errol Spence Jr. in his most recent bout, Garcia is interested in adding more world titles to his championship mantle. In the case of Ennis, on the other hand, the 24-year-old switch-hitter has failed to fight for a world title as of yet. That notion, however, could soon change as he’s set to take on Custio Clayton in an IBF eliminator on May 14th.
In the end, while Garcia is proud of Ennis and wants to continue to see him do well, he’s well aware that the sport of boxing is an unpredictable one. Meaning, there’s a chance they could be forced to put their Philadelphia friendship aside and face one another in the ring.
“I mean it’s boxing, anything can happen so you can never say never. I earned my stripes in the game already. He’s going to build his legacy and I’m looking for bigger and better things.”