Abass Baraou is ready to take on Jaron Ennis in biggest fight of his career

Abass Baraou reveals talks with Matchroom

Jaron Ennis demolished Uisma Lima inside a round last weekend.

While the spectacle proved spectacular, the matchmaking received a fair amount of criticism.

As a result, Ennis (35-0, 31 KO’s) and promoter Eddie Hearn will be under pressure to find a more suitable matchup for the 28-year-old’s next 154lb showcase.

With frontrunner Vergil Ortiz Jr, currently tied into a showdown with Erickson Lubin on November 8, the American will likely find his eyes wandering elsewhere.

With Ennis’s recent victory crowning him the WBA interim champion, the sensible next stop sees him take on the recently upgraded title holder, Abass Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs).

The Germans' last outing saw him come out victorious in a huge upset over Yoenis Tellez on August 24. 

Speaking to The Ring, he revealed that to make the fight happen, he had to throw together a makeshift coaching team.

"The people on fight night were just put together from people in the gym - my friends - we had done the last five weeks together," he revealed.

"People don't know, but it was a short-term solution and I made an emergency compromise to keep the fight on. Luckily, I never listen to the outside noise. I have a strong opinion and whatever people say [in terms of criticism] doesn't reach me.

"I had to pull myself together and try to manage everything but I'm glad they were there for me, Roberto and Luis, my friend Joseph had to translate because he [Iznaga] only speaks Spanish. I'm glad they were with me as it helped in more ways than you can imagine.”

Despite only just laying claim to the WBA throne, the 30-year-old wants to waste no time in taking his career to the next level.

"I was planning to have a defence at the end of the year or maybe a unification right away," he stated.

"It depends on what can be made quickly and which promoter can offer those terms.”

Matchroom have announced its interest in promoting Baraou, provided he agrees to a showdown with Ennis. Despite the move looking somewhat suspicious, with Matchroom, the long-time promoter of ‘Boots’, the German stresses that it's a good problem to have.

“This is the start of something bigger, where I always aimed to be," he says. "I still have the same mentality and hunger, everything is closer and I'm dreaming bigger now, found my joy in boxing again and to me, I must keep hunting.”

Baraou didn't shy away from admitting the supreme talent on display at Junior Middleweight. Still, he doesn't seem scared by it either, seeing it as the perfect opportunity to prove himself to the world.

"We're all chasing the same goal, the same dream. Jaron is a great talent, Bakhram has been avoided and I think Vergil will be too much for Lubin, but everywhere you look in this division, there's strong talent," Baraou says.

"It's now about me proving myself as a danger to everyone.”