Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ dad/trainer, Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis, says Boots would have knocked out WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov if he’d been fighting him on August 3rd instead of Terence Crawford.
Bozy states that ‘Boots’ Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) would have fought Madrimov (10-1-1, 7 KOs) instead of boxing him the way the 36-year-old Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs). He says that Crawford may have been concerned about Madrimov’s punching power, so he boxed him, which made it tough for the judges to score the fight.
They had to decide whether to give the rounds to Madrimov based on the powerful right-hand shots he kept landing or focus on Crawford’s jabbing.
It came down to which type of punches the judges favored, and unfortunately, since it was subjective, Crawford’s win was controversial in the eyes of the boxing public.
“The reason why they’re saying that is because they heard what I said. If Boots had been fighting [Israil] Madrimov, Boots would have stopped him,” said Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis to YSM Sports Media about his belief that his son, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, would have knocked out WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd instead of going the 12 round distance like Terence Crawford had.
Crawford’s Cautious Approach
At Crawford’s age, he’s too old to go to war with a puncher like Madrimov, especially with him coming off a 13-month layoff and fighting only once a year since 2020. Inactivity, age and move up in weight made Crawford hesitant about brawling with Madrimov.
Some fighters and trainers believe Crawford would have knocked out Madrimov if he had fought aggressively, but that may not be true. Crawford was getting lit up with right hands from Madrimor when he let his hands go in the 12th round.
Those shots that Madrimov hit Crawford with would have knocked out most fighters, and he wouldn’t have been able to take them if he’d tried to brawl from round one, as pro-Crawford fans believe. Bozy Ennis is one of them.
He thinks Crawford would have knocked out Madrimov if he’d brawled from the get-go. If he’d been Crawford’s trainer, he would have pushed for that approach, which might have backfired on him.
Bozy’s problem as a trainer is that he focuses too much on aggression, causing his fighters to get hit a lot. We saw that in lightweight Andy Cruz’s fight against Antonio Moran on August 3rd. Bozy kept pushing Cruz to mix it up with Moran, and he got hurt early on. Cruz might have been knocked out if this had been a better fighter than Moran.
“All that stuff he [Madrimov] was doing. He’s a good fighter, but Boots is going to fight you,” said Bozy. “He’ll box you, but he’ll fight you, too. Terence knew the guy was a puncher. I guess he didn’t want to take no chances,” said Bozy about Crawford playing it safe against Madrimov.
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
If Bozy thinks Boots would knockout Madrimov, he should be pushing him to move up to 154 to show the fans that he’s wasting his career staying at 14, fighting unpopular opposition. Actions speak louder than words, and the fact that Bozy isn’t talking about wanting Boots to move up to 154 suggests he’s worried about his ability to swim with the sharks in that division.
If Bozy thought Ennis could handle the talented fighters at 154 like Madrimov, he wouldn’t be wasting time by fighting a pointless rematch against Karen Chukhadzhian in December in Philadelphia. Karen is Boots Ennis’ rumored next opponent at 147.
Boots choosing to stay at 147 to try and accomplish his goal of becoming the undisputed champion shows fear in the eyes of fans because the belt-holders are a weak bunch.
