Jaron Ennis claimed a dominant win over Uisma Lima on Saturday, October 11, at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. Stepping through the ropes in front of his hometown crowd, “Boots” made his 154-pound debut. The two fighters squared off in a WBA super welterweight title eliminator.
The scheduled 12-round contest didn’t go the distance. Local former unified welterweight champion Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) secured a victory by TKO, twice sending Portugal-based Angolan Lima (14-2, 10 KOs) to the canvas along the way.
Although Lima both times managed to get back on his feet, referee Shawn Clark stepped in and waved the fight off to save him from further punishment following another barrage of punches from Ennis. The official time of the stoppage was 1:58 into the opening round.
In the co-feature, Las Vegas-based Guido Vianello (14-3-1, 12 KOs) of Italy dropped and stopped Alexis Barriere (12-1, 10 KOs) of Canada in the fifth round at heavyweight. With the win, Vianello claimed the vacant WBC Continental Americas title.
On the Ennis vs Lima undercard, Philadelphia’s Tahmir Smalls (16-0, 11 KOs) defeated Jose Roman Vazquez (14-2, 6 KOs) of Puerto Rico by unanimous decision to claim the WBA Continental North America welterweight title. After 10 rounds, the judges scored it 98-91, 96-93, and 95-94. On his way to victory, Smalls sent Vazquez to the canvas in the third round.
Additionally, Philadelphia’s Dennis Thompson (8-0, 5 KOs) defeated Sean Diaz (9-1, 2 KOs) of Mexico by split decision. After six rounds at super bantamweight, the judges scored the fight 60-53, 57-56, and 56-57.
On Ennis vs Lima prelims
Among the prelims, Newark’s Zaquin Moses (5-0, 3 KOs) defeated Antonio Dunton El Jr. (6-5-2, 2 KOs) of Baltimore by unanimous decision at super featherweight, with all three judges scoring the fight 60-54.
Giorgio Visioli (9-0, 6 KOs) of the UK defeated Brooklyn’s James Wilkins (13-4, 6 KOs) by unanimous decision in an eight-rounder at lightweight, with 80-72 across the board.
Brooklyn’s Harley Mederos (9-0, 8 KOs) stopped Hylon Williams Jr. (16-7-1, 3 KOs) of Houston in one round at lightweight.
Kicking off the action, Naheem Parker (6-3, 2 KOs) of Camden, NJ defeated Justin Palmieri (5-1, 3 KOs) of Maple Shade, NJ by unanimous decision at lightweight, with all three scores 60-54.