It’s time. Boots up! On Saturday, October 11, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will face Angolan Uisma Lima in his light middleweight debut. The former champion moved up a division after his welterweight unification bout against Eimantas Stanionis in April. With the WBA interim title on the line, it’s a high-stakes battle between Boots Ennis and a top-ranked contender. A win over Lima would go a long way toward fulfilling his ambition of claiming a championship in a second weight class. But it’s not all smooth sailing at the moment.

Given Uisma Lima‘s current standing in the IBF, WBA, and WBC rankings, the matchup has come under scrutiny. However, Jaron Ennis‘s promoter, Matchroom Boxing, believes it’s a good fight – one that will answer many of the questions that followed Ennis during his stay at 147 pounds. A full welterweight champion since November 2023, the Philadelphian faced criticism for not fighting other titleholders. His emphatic win over Stanionis allayed some doubts. But this move to 154 pounds is still fresh, and the first matchup has reignited those apprehensions. So, ahead of the big match, let’s check out a few details.

Predicting Jaron Ennis vs. Uisma Lima: Who has better stats and a record?

In terms of statistics and record, ‘Boots’ Ennis enjoys a clear edge. Making his professional debut nine years ago, he embarked on a 29-win streak before achieving his first major breakthrough in January 2023, when he became an interim champion. Later, after welterweight’s undisputed champion Terence Crawford vacated his belts, Ennis was elevated to full champion and defended the title successfully against David Avanesyan and Karen Chukhadzhian before facing Eimantas Stanionis for unification.

With one fight ending in a draw, he now holds a record of 34 wins, 30 of them by knockout, and a knockout-to-win ratio of 88.24%.

Angola-born Uisma Lima resides in Portugal. He fought his first professional bout in 2019. His first attempt at a title, the regional WBO International Middleweight Championship, fell short when Aaron McKenna took him the distance. But months later, Lima turned the tide, defeating Araik Marutjan. Last April, in his first 12-round match, he forced Haro Matevosyan into a corner retirement to clinch the IBF Inter-Continental Super Welterweight title. On December 12, he defeated Canada’s Sukhdeep Singh Bhatti to capture the vacant IBO Light Middleweight title.

Late in May, he traveled to South Africa for his first title defense and defeated Shervantaigh Koopman. With 15 professional bouts under his belt, Uisma Lima boasts a competitive 71% KO rate.

Jaron Ennis vs. Uisma Lima: Height, weight, reach comparison, and more

Unfortunately, details about Lima’s height and reach are not readily available. As for Ennis, he stands 5 feet 10 inches (178 centimeters) tall and has a 74-inch (188-centimeter) reach.

The final weigh-ins for the Matchroom card are yet to take place. In his latest bout against Stanionis, Boots Ennis weighed in at 146.4 pounds. Uisma Lima, on the other hand, tipped the scales at 153 pounds when he fought Koopman.

Fight prediction

As far as bookmakers are concerned, they’ve already made their pick. With nearly a 90% chance of winning, Jaron Ennis remains the heavy favorite against the +800 underdog, Uisma Lima.

That confidence likely stems from Boots’ formidable reputation as a finisher. The Stanionis fight, where he pummeled the Lithuanian into a six-round corner retirement, proved it. Lima has been on a four-fight win streak and earned some impressive victories. But those may not be enough to silence the skeptics.

Stylistically, it’s a battle of the southpaws. However, Lima would be mistaken to think Ennis will stick to the script. While not quite of Terence Crawford’s class, the Philadelphian is known as a switch-hitter who can quickly adopt an orthodox stance. As the Stanionis match showed, he’s equally dangerous in the pocket.

Adding to his edge are recent sparring sessions with Canelo Alvarez. The Mexican superstar invited Ennis to his camp to prepare for the Crawford fight, and there’s little doubt Boots learned plenty from that experience.

Saturday night’s card promises an array of exciting fights, with the undercard featuring Zaquin Moses, Shakur Stevenson’s cousin. Do you think Uisma Lima can pull off a massive upset against Jaron Ennis? Either way, fans can look forward to a high-octane clash.