BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The moment was made for Jaron "Boots" Ennis. It was cultivated before anyone even knew who he was — back in "The Dungeon" years.
This dungeon had no specters lurking. It was where pain was processed, where doubts were checked at the entrance and where future champions were honed. Small, round pools of light pierced the darkness. Industrial lanterns illuminated the musty, thick air of the dungeon each time the power went out, and it went out often.
In the basement of this Germantown Philadelphia church is where Derek "Bozy" Ennis built a makeshift gym for his sons: Derek, Farah, and the youngest, Jaron, nicknamed "Boots."
The problem with "Boots" is he always liked to fight. Blessed with agility, speed and ambidextrous power, he could sometimes eat punches he could have avoided.
A sense of tranquility always pervaded, because the Ennis family genuinely felt one of the three were destined to make it in the hardscrabble world of professional boxing. Derek nor Farah had the skill nor disciple of "Boots." And when "Boots" was rising, Team Boots was bogged down by lawsuits that tethered him to managers. His career was delayed because of it, but "Boots" knew, and his father knew, talent always rises.