Derek “Bozy” Ennis A Teacher Not A Trainer!

By Ken Hissner: One of the best trainers in boxing out of Philadelphia is Derek “Bozy” Ennis, who prefers to be called a “teacher” and is not only the best out of Philadelphia but one of the best in the world. Ennis teaches his boxers out of the Next Champ Gym in the greater Northeast of Philadelphia at 1082 Grant Avenue. I once did an article on him called “My Three Sons.” The oldest is Derek “Pooh” Ennis, 24-5-1 with 13 stoppages was the IBF USBA Super Welterweight champion retiring in 2014. He and his father were inducted into the PAB HOF, in which I had the pleasure of nominating both. His son Farah Ennis, 22-2 with 12 stoppages was the NABF Super Middleweight champion retiring in 2015. I’ve nominated him twice for the PAB HOF without any success as of yet. The youngest of the three sons, Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 31-0 with 28 stoppages, is the IBF Interim welterweight champion. He was 58-3 in the amateurs and the Olympic alternate in 2015. He was ranked No. 2 before winning the Interim title on January 7th of 2023, defeating by winning all 12 rounds over IBF Inter-Continental champion Karen Chukhadzhian, 22-1, from Ukraine.

Last Saturday, July 8th, Ennis stopped Roiman Villa, 26-2, with 24 stoppages from Rosario, Venezuela, in the tenth round over Showtime. Both boxers fought on the same card on January 7th in the District of Columbia in DC, with Rosario defeating Rashidi Ellis 24-0. He’s had plenty of sparring. Among those is Philadelphia’s unbeaten Paul “The Punisher” Kroll, 10-0-1, scheduled for an August 4th meeting with Guido Emmanuel Schramm, 16-1-1, at Wind Creeks Event Center, Bethlehem, PA. Another sparring is the former Cuban National amateur champion Andy Cruz Gomez, 140-9, as an amateur about to make his debut July 15th at the Masonic Temple, Detroit, MI, against Juan Carlos Burgos, 35-7-3. Vergil Ortiz, Jr., 19-0 with 19 stoppages, was to meet WBA World Welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis, 14-0, with 9 stoppages from Lithuania at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas, but Ortiz fainted Wednesday and canceled his bout. Both Ennis and Ortiz are in line to in the future meeting the winner of the July 29th unification bout between WBO World champion Terence “Bud” Crawford 39-0 with 30 stoppages and WBC, WBA, and IBF World champion Errol “The Truth” Spence, Jr., 28-0 with 22 stoppages who have a two-fight deal with both claiming they will move onto the super welterweight division.

“My son should be getting the IBF title fight soon,” said “Bozy.” He also teaches super bantam boxer Christian Carto, 20-1, who is recovering from an injured shoulder. “Bozy” Ennis is the man behind the man, his son “Boots” the most avoided boxer in the welterweight division!