Philly’s Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis wants to be the ‘face of boxing.’ First, he had to learn to fish.

Bozy Ennis taught his sons to fish on the weekends, leaving Germantown to catch trout, catfish, and sunnies. They cast their rods in Perkiomen and Phoenixville. They hung by the water in Gladwyne and New Hope. Bozy Ennis took his sons Derek and Farrah everywhere. But he never taught his youngest son, Jaron.

“You know why it skipped him?” Farrah Ennis said. “Because he and my dad were always in the gym. They didn’t have time to fish.”

Jaron Ennis is a world champion boxer on the verge of becoming a superstar. He was molded by his father in gritty neighborhood gyms they respectfully called “dungeons.” There was no time to fish.

But there he was last August with his brother Farrah — a former pro boxer — and an afternoon to fill in a California town near Lake Tahoe. The brothers traveled there so Jaron could train with Canelo Alvarez, one of boxing’s biggest names. Now he finally had time to fish.

» READ MORE: Philly’s Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will fight champion Xander Zayas on June 27 at Barclays Center

The Ennis brothers sat for three hours as the sun set. Jaron Ennis — who is known as “Boots” — won his professional boxing debut in 42 seconds. Fishing proved to be a different challenge.

“We didn’t catch anything,” Farah Ennis said. “Fishing teaches you patience. For me, it’s not a big deal. I’ve been fishing for eight hours or longer and didn’t catch anything. You just have to have patience.”

Jaron Ennis says he wants to become the “face of boxing,” a role he’s seemed destined for since he turned pro. But his promise was often slowed by things outside the ring: litigation against a former manager, opponents unwilling to fight him, mandatory title defenses against overmatched foes, and a signature fight earlier this year that fell through while Ennis’ opponent was stuck in a lawsuit with his promoter.

The 28-year-old’s career has often felt like a fisherman waiting for a bite. But now things seem to be breaking his way. Ennis (35-0, 31 knockouts) will fight WBA and WBO super welterweight champ Xander Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs) on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The bout, the main event of a DAZN pay-per-view telecast, is the biggest of Ennis’ career.

A win would surge Ennis up boxing’s pound-for-pound lists, which he started to appear on earlier this year. It would then position him for a 154-pound unification fight against WBC champ Sebastian Fundora or a long-awaited bout against Vergil Ortiz, who was slated to fight Ennis this year. Defeat those three fighters and Ennis could stake a claim to being the face of the sport. His fishing rod finally has some nibbles.

“That’s why I’m trying to teach him fishing,” Farrah Ennis said. “You have to be patient.”

Ennis flew to Texas in November to watch Ortiz’s fight from ringside and then climbed into the ring for a promotional staredown after Ortiz won by knockout. All signs pointed to Ennis and Ortiz meeting a few months later in a long-awaited title fight. But those plans were scrapped in March because of ongoing litigation between Ortiz and Golden Boy Promotions.

Ennis, left without a fight, said he told his own promoter — Eddie Hearn of Matchroom — to make a match with Zayas, a popular 23-year-old Puerto Rican fighter with a promising future. A few weeks later, it was official.

» READ MORE: Some famous Philly boxers are buried in unmarked graves. This fan is on a mission to change that.

“That was the next best option,” Ennis said. “He has two belts. That’s halfway to being undisputed. That’s where I want to be. Winning two belts on June 27 and it’s only up. I’m going to be the face of boxing.”

Ennis never hid his ambition to land a big fight as he tried to arrange bouts with stars like Terrence Crawford, Errol Spence, and Keith Thurman. But none of those fights materialized, leaving Ennis to face lesser foes as he climbed the ranks. Saturday will be his biggest challenge. And he asked for it.

“We sounded everyone,” Bozy Ennis said. “That’s from the beginning of time. Everyone knows that. Then they go back and say, ‘He didn’t fight that guy.’ Well, you can’t fight the guys who don’t want to fight you. You know what I mean? Spence, Crawford, Thurman. All those guys, we sounded. We tried. ‘Oh, yeah. He didn’t really fight anyone.’ But they didn’t want to fight us and made up all kinds of excuses.”

Ennis’ biggest challenge will also come on his biggest stage: the main event of a pay-per-view. Headlining a pay-per-view is a status in the sport, something usually reserved for a fighter who can claim to be “the face of boxing.”

Ennis said he’ll know he’s the face of boxing when fight-night becomes an event. Remember how it was when Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought? Or the audience that tuned in last year to watch Terrence Crawford defeat Canelo Alvarez after Ennis sparred with him in camp? That’s what Ennis envisions. A win on Saturday will move him closer to that.

“It’s not boxing anymore at that point,” Ennis said. “It’s like a fashion show slash boxing slash concert. It’s an all-around thing, and that’s what I want my fights to be. I want everyone to come and enjoy themselves, get fly, get dressed, and enjoy a beautiful fight and a beautiful knockout that I’m going to deliver.”

“You have to have a fanbase that’s outside of just boxing. You have to have the rappers, the entertainers, the TV stars, the movie stars. That’s what I’m looking to do and that’s what I’m going to do come June 27.

“Everyone already knows me now. But after this performance I put on, the world is really going to see, and I’m going to be the face of boxing and a guy who everyone wants to see fight.”

Ennis spent 13 days last year in Alvarez’s camp, which he said he did not get paid to do as he made sure he wasn’t mistaken for a “sparring partner” before Alvarez met Terrence Crawford in the biggest fight of the year. Ennis was there to work just like Alvarez was. But he did get to spend nearly two weeks around a fighter who was often the face of boxing during his career. He saw how Alvarez worked and how he trained.

“He’s out there with the face of boxing and was just having a great time,” Farrah Ennis said. “That put it in his head like, if he’s the face of boxing, then so can I.”

The fighter’s biggest takeaway? Superstars are just as normal as him.

“We’re all normal,” Jaron Ennis said. “People think we’re not normal. We do normal stuff. Everybody thinks that since we’re on this high pedestal that we do these crazy things or have camp in a certain way. But it was just a normal camp.”

» READ MORE: Every boxer has a cutman. Philly’s Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis has a cutwoman in his corner.

Ennis trains in the Northeast in the basement of an animal adoption center on Grant Avenue. Ennis’ father keeps the door locked because too many people brought their dogs to the gym thinking it was an animal clinic. It’s here where Ennis works nearly every day. His brothers assist his dad, and other fighters are from the Germantown neighborhood they call “Brickyard.”

“I don’t care how big I get, I’ll always train with my guys,” Ennis said. “That’s how you have to be. You can’t get too bigheaded when you get to a certain level. You always have to stay humble and grounded and keep working.”

Ennis has what it takes to be the face of boxing as he matches an affable personality with the skills to both dazzle and punish. He has won all but four of his fights via stoppage, yet is more than just a puncher. He can fight southpaw, has smooth defense, and has great footwork.

“People like to see him fight because he’s a boxer and he’ll fight you,” his father said. “People come to see you fight. They don’t want to see you run around. He does both. He can do what he wants to do, and I’m just waiting for someone to take him to another level. They haven’t seen anything yet.”

Bozy Ennis didn’t travel with his son to California last year, as the trainer has built a stable of world-class fighters that he works with along with Boots. He had to stay home in Philly while his son struggled to catch a fish. He said they would’ve caught something if his rod was in the water.

“Nah,” Boots shouted from across the gym. “He don’t got it anymore.”

The dad laughed. He said he’ll get back out there and prove that he can still fish. First, they have to see what they catch this weekend as their patience is finally being rewarded.

“You have to carry yourself like you’re the face of the sport,” Ennis said. “That’s how I carry myself already, and that’s how I’m going to carry myself June 27. I already fight how I fight. I fight fan-friendly. I have the speed. I have the power. I do everything. I’m explosive. I have defense.

“Whatever I do, people are going to want to see it. On June 27, I’m just going to stamp it and show even more and in an even better way.”