It might have happened earlier. Still, it took less than two minutes before Jaron Ennis showed the door to a hapless Uisma Lima. The headliner of the Matchroom card at the Wells Fargo Arena ended before you could say ‘knife.’ Soon after unifying the welterweight division, Ennis moved up and faced the Portuguese fighter in his 154-pound debut. His performance clearly bowled over diehard fans.

Nonetheless, it could barely prevent the swelling tide of criticisms. Jaron Ennis and promoter Eddie Hearn were already under scrutiny. Instead of picking a tougher challenge, they settled for a low-tier fighter like Lima. Now, fresh claims add further weight to the jibes. If what welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr.’s father says is true, one of Matchroom’s rising prospects, Jalil Hackett, aimed for a lineup against Lima. Only the latter ended up facing Ennis, who ousted him with relative ease. The claims reinforce doubts over Boot’s assertions of seeking greatness. A win over Lima, who could barely defend himself, barely bolsters his record.

Reaping rewards without the challenge

These revelations came in Mill City Boxing’s latest episode. Uploaded a few hours ago, it featured Brian Norman Sr. as the guest. As they reviewed yesterday’s fight in Philadelphia, the host highlighted some backroom discussions. Reportedly, Eddie Hearn suggested Ennis might proceed for 154-pound unification.

But Norman Sr. wasn’t in the mood to buy the narrative. “You speak about greatness when you haven’t even in this level,” he said. He acknowledged Boot’s title unification as a welterweight. However, how can he claim greatness when he’s hardly done anything at 154 pounds so far?

Saying so, he shared, “Jalil Hackett came out and said that he was the one that was looking at Lima, and Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn said that Lima does nothing in his career.” So Brian Norman Sr. had a simple question: “So how does Lima does nothing for Jalil Hackett’s career with only nine fights at the time, but he does something for Jaron in his career with 34 fights at the time?”

“It don’t make sense. It don’t add up,” Norman Sr. added.

Jaron Ennis needs to take the next big leap

His comments somehow resonate with renowned boxing journalist Dan Rafael’s views. Disagreeing with former champion and commentator Sergio Mora, who described Jaron Ennis’s performance as ‘watching greatness,’ Rafael said, “My man @TheLatinSnake_ is hilarious. ‘We are watching greatness here’ because Ennis smoked a guy who didn’t belong in the ring with him.”

During the post-fight interview with Chris Mannix, Eddie Hearn called Jaron Ennis ‘the future of boxing.’

“This is the pound-for-pound number one in the waiting. There is nobody at 54, 60, and dare I say 168 who can beat this guy. We’re coming for everybody, one man included. But we got to earn that right. And I’m telling you now, Oscar de la Hoya tweeted before this fight, There’s only one man at 154. Line them up, and he’ll piece them up. Virgil Ortiz will get destroyed by Jaron Ennis,” the Matchroom boss said.

So it’s better to put aside the Lima fight as an aberration and look ahead. IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev, who may have a title defense against Josh Kelly, seems interested in a Boots face-off. Still, a Matchroom-Golden Boy card headlined by Ennis and Ortiz Jr. should bode well for the Philadelphian if he wants to propel his career to the next level.

It’s not like Ennis hasn’t faced tough opponents before. At welterweight, he fought the formidable Eimantas Stanionis. So he can do the same at 154 pounds as well.

Who would you want Boots Ennis to face next?