Shawn Porter is a fighter well acquainted with boxing’s welterweight division. A former world champion at 147lbs, Porter has shared the ring with a number of quality operators including Kell Brook, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia and Errol Spence. Well qualified to discuss his peers, Porter was quick to pour praise on an emerging talent in his weight category, Philadelphia’s Jaron Ennis.
Earlier this month, Ennis announced himself on the world stage with a one-sided sixth round stoppage over Sergey Lipinets. It was a performance that made many in boxing sit up and take notice, and that included Porter.
“He’s a welterweight Roy Jones Jr,” said Porter on his own Porter Way Podcast. “Roy did it just like that. When they stepped up the competition, he continued to do it just like that.
“I’m a Showtime fighter. It don’t matter what time of day it is. When the lights come on, I’m ready. I don’t care what I was doing two hours before the fight, when the lights come on, I’m ready and that’s how Jaron is.”
With the welterweight landscape dominated by consistent speculation relating to a fight between Terence Crawford and Spence, Ennis is a boxer currently fighting his way to the top. A typically tough division, Ennis might not find it easy trying to tackle the leading names but Porter believes that once the bell sounds, the talented 23-year-old will be more than prepared.
“Jaron is just one of those guys where, if you put him in the ring with Shawn Porter, you put him in the ring with Errol Spence Jr., and we can all say that he may not be ready yet, but it’s just one of those situations where he gets in the ring and tonight is that night for him.”