Eddie Hearn is looking at about 14,000 at Wells Fargo for Ennis-Avanesyan in Philly.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Philadelphia is supposed to be a “big fight city.” That's not the case. Philadelphia is supposed to be a “great sports city.” That's not the case.

It doesn't mean that Philadelphia doesn't produce great fighters.

It still is.

Jaron “Boots” Ennis is currently one of them. THE CHAIRMAN of Matchroom Promotions, Eddie Hearn, made a promise to Ennis when he arrived in haste to release the IBF welterweight list in April that he would be defending his first title in his hometown of Philadelphia, which is the match played. a city without avid fans following the NFL Eagles.

Hearn promised Ennis that he would make a name for himself among sports fans in the city—and it looks like he has done just that.

In an exclusive interview with The Ring, Hearn said about 14,000 will attend Ennis' first IBF 147-pound title defense against the tough David Avanesyan (30-4-1, 18 knockouts) on Saturday night on DAZN with 21,000 . -seat Wells Fargo Center, home of the NBA's 76ers and the NHL's Flyers.

The 14,000 would be the highest attendance for a Philly indoor fight since Marvin Hagler defeated Bennie Briscoe by a 10-round decision on August 24, 1978 at the now-defunct Philadelphia Spectrum (14,930), and will be nearly -2,000. Philadelphia's all-time boxing attendance record, set by 16,019 people who witnessed boxing's biggest heist, saw WBC junior lightweight champion Alfredo Escalera defend his belt in what was clearly a victory over Tyrone Everett.

Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) will headline an eight-fight card that will also feature a 10-round WBC women's title shot from Diana Vargas and is packed with plenty of promising opportunities.

It's a sign that boots should win—and win comfortably.

What has been a great curiosity is how the war drags on.

Almost a hundred years ago, Philadelphia was once an exciting, historic battleground. On September 23, 1926, Gene Tunney defeated Jack Dempsey in a pouring rain on a Thursday night in front of a crowd of 120,557 at Sesquicentennial Stadium, later renamed Municipal Stadium and finally JFK Stadium, where the Army-Navy game was held. Twenty-six years later to this day, Rocky Marciano knocked out Jersey Joe Walcott to win the heavyweight title on September 23, 1952, in front of 40,379 fans at Municipal Stadium.

Led by Hall of Fame promoter J Russell Peltz, Philadelphia returned as a battleground from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. Peltz helped draw Hall of Famers Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Matthew Saad Muhammad, Jeff Chandler and Roberto Duran to the Spectrum, attracting five-strong crowds.

Today, Stephen Fulton of Philadelphia, a former WBO and WBC junior featherweight, receives a crowd at the Tokyo, Japan, airport and is unknown walking down the street of North Philly.

This time last year, Fulton held the WBO and WBC junior featherweight titles, shortly before flying to Japan and losing the belts to eventual 2023 Fighter of the Year Naoya Inoue.

“I'm the only world champion in Philadelphia (the Philadelphia Phillies lost the 2022 World Series, and the Eagles lost the 2022 Super Bowl),” Fulton told The Ring at the time. “It's like no one knows that. That's why I said I would never fight in Philadelphia. I get more love across the country and in the middle of the world than in my hometown. They can keep love. I don't care about it right now.”

On March 29, 2003, former middleweight Bernard Hopkins defended his 16th title against French Champion Morrade “Pepe Le Pew” Hakkar before a few on the Spectrum in the WBC mandatory. This event, because it was not fought, was full of people. Much to the chagrin of Philadelphia boxing fans, considering Hopkins couldn't draw in his hometown no matter who he was fighting.

Hearn, a savvy marketer, is looking to change that with Boots. For one thing, Ennis being 147 is a big plus. US lighter-weight fighters seem to have a hard time attracting attention in their hometowns. Second, and more importantly, Hearn's struggle may not come down so much to selling Ennis, 27, a highly likable, extremely talented star, as his job will be to sell boxing to a desperate city that framed boxing decades ago as a crossover sport. .

“We're hoping to get to 14,000 and for the size, this is a big event,” Hearn said. “This is the biggest fight since the Hagler-Briscoe fight, which was 46 years ago. The bottom line here is that Philadelphia is a healthy sports town, and a healthy boxing town. I believe there is something about Boots being very good, and people recognize his ability to be a top-five, top-three pound-for-pound fighter in the world. People understand that and buy into that.

“One of the most exciting things about this project is the possible future. If we can draw 14,000 for David Avanesyan, a good, competitive fighter, we can sell a big fight. We are looking to build on this and build on how good Boots are. I would like to see one big, unification title fight against Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) or (WBC title holder) Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) sometime later this year. We know the power of the crowd. We're looking at a really nice gate, over $1 million. This is the resurgence of championship boxing in this city, and Boots is an outstanding fighter who could be the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”

Avanesyan is a better fighter than his first opponent Cody Crowley, who was forced out by the IBF when he failed a pre-fight eye test. Avanesyan will come to fight.

Hearn has priced tickets reasonably well, and the lower tier is almost sold out, with side seats for $1,000, and upper level seats for $30 still available.

“We've gone really well in the last 48 hours, and we want to get back to Philly,” Hearn said. “We hear things about tickets that are full of money. I found the comments from Russell Peltz about increased ticket sales very strange, and I don't understand why he wouldn't want to be behind one of the successes the city has had. There is absolutely no concession on the numbers we are at right now, no comps, nothing. Depending on the size of the show, the comps vary.

“Obviously, if it's a small crowd, and you have room in the stadium, you use the comps to promote the show. We do not use comps to fill seats. If the show sells really well, as it has, you take care of your sponsors with comps. We have had pure sales. I don't know why anyone like Russell, from Philadelphia, would want to minimize what this is—the biggest fight of the decade. Russell is a legend. He is a legend in this area, who should be looking back on Saturday as a proud man, looking back on those glory days and having a chance here to rise again from the ashes where big time boxing used to be in Philadelphia.

“The brother and his father are great ambassadors of boxing. Boots is a great person, and he's a great example in the city, and to me, that's what makes him a good seller. He is a great fighter, and he is a great person who embraces sports.

“You can't beat that.”

Hopefully, Philadelphia gets it.