Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis claims he’ll capture the #1 pound-for-pound spot in “one or two fights.” If that prediction comes true, he must have bagged a win over Terence Crawford or a couple of the top 154-pounders, like Bakhram Murtazaliev.
The quickest way for Ennis to grab the #1 spot would be to defeat Crawford, but since the Nebraska native has no interest in fighting him, he doesn’t have that option. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh could make that fight happen if he were to offer Crawford a lot of money, but it would likely be too expensive to make it worth pursuing.
Boots at A Dead End
If Boots is going to rapidly grab the #1 pound-for-pound spot, he will need to light a fire under his promoter Eddie Hearn’s backside to match him against big enough names to get him there. Hearn won’t be able to help Boots by coming up with the dough needed for him to fight all the champions at 147.
The reality is that it will probably take Ennis three to five years to become #1 pound-for-pound, given his stubborn insistence on unifying the welterweight division before moving up to 154 to begin facing the talented opposition.
If Ennis were brave and willing to take risks with his career now, he would need to move up to 154 immediately and fight these types of killers to grab the #1 P4P spot:
– Bakhram Murtazaliev
– Vergil Ortiz Jr.
– Sebastian Fundora
– Israil Madrimov
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Tim Tszyu
– Charles Conwell
– Erickson Lubin
Fear of Failure Holding Ennis Back
Boots Ennis must move up to 154 for his next two fights because the 147-lb division lacks talented fighters known to the boxing public. His belief that he must capture all the titles at welterweight is his main hindrance to moving toward the 1 pound-for-pound spot. He’ll never achieve that by playing it safe, staying at 147, fighting lesser talents like Karen Chukhadzhian, David Avanesyan and Roiman Villa. One gets the sense that Ennis is deeply afraid to go up to 154, risk failure, and wind up just one of the many down-and-out contenders.
Even if Ennis were to capture the three remaining titles by beating champions Eimantas Stanionis, Brian Norman Jr., and Mario Barrios, there’s no chance that he’ll grab the #1 P4P spot because those are belt-holders who have been maneuvered into winning those titles by their promoters.
Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) is spinning his wheels at 147, defending his IBF welterweight title against Karek Chukhadzhian in a rematch on November 9th. Boots, 27, already beat Chukhadzhan last year in January by a wide 12-round unanimous decision, and fans have no interest in this match.
“My main objective was to get these belts. I was pushing hard to get these belts to be undisputed or at least unify. That was my goal. Those things fell out, and I had to fight my mandatory,” Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis said to Ariel Helwani’s channel, talking about his disappointment in facing Karen Chukhadzhian in a rematch on November 9th.
Ennis’ meaningless goal of capturing all the 147-pound belts works against his desire to become #1 pound-for-pound because that’s not the path he must take to achieve that. Staying at 147 is useless and will doom him to be just one of the many non-popular world title holders.
“As long as I’m still fighting and keeping busy, that’s the whole thing. Those belts are going to come. I’m going to grab those belts next year,” Ennis said about the welterweight straps. “I had to fight my mandatory. This time I’m going to beat him easier and in a better fashion.
“It’s a blessing to have him on the card. He’s a top-five pound-for-pound. I’m glad to have him on my card. Me and him together, we’re going to make fireworks,” said Boots about having WBC super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez in his co-feature against Pedro Guevara.
The reason Hearn has packaged Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez with Boots is obvious. Ennis’ fight against Chukhadzhian doesn’t interest the boxing public, and he lacks the charisma to attract fans to watch him defend against lesser fighters.
Ennis needs to understand that Hearn’s decision to place Bam as his co-feature is a message that he doesn’t have the popularity to be on his own card without needing help. This could also potentially tie into why Hearn chose not to invest money in negotiating the unification fight for Boots against WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr.
Boots Vows Not to Follow Selfish Crawford’s Footsteps
“The card is going to be crazy. There are a lot of great up-and-coming fighters on the card. Hopefully, it’s true. I’ve been asking for them fights,” said Ennis when asked if he believes he’ll get a chance to fight Terence Crawford. “You ask him. I’m tired of answering this question multiple times.
“When it’s my turn, and I got to fight a young lion, I definitely will give him the opportunity. Eddie [Hearn] has got a mouthpiece. He’s going to do all the talking for you. You don’t have to say anything. He’s going to say everything that’s going to be said.”
Crawford’s decision not to help out younger fighters like Boots Ennis, Murtazaliev, and Bohachuk can be interpreted as a selfish attitude. He doesn’t want to be used to build the sport’s next stars. Greats like Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Muhammad Ali were willing to face the young lions when they got old, but thus far, Crawford isn’t willing to do the same thing.
“All you’ve got to do is sit back and fight and do what you need to do. That’s win,” said Ennis about his promoter Eddie Hearn doing all the work marketing his fights by doing all the talking.
Ennis doesn’t understand that he needs to help promote his career because Hearn can only do a superficial job of attracting interest in his career through his interviews. If you watch Hearn’s interviews, he doesn’t say a lot about Ennis compared to his other fighters, like Anthony Joshua, who is his #1 money-maker.
“One or two fights,” said Boots Ennis when asked how long before he claims the #1 pound-for-pound spot. “I’m right there. I just need that one name, that’s all.”
