By Chris Williams: Promoter Lou DiBella says unbeaten contender Jaron’ Boots’ Ennis beats welterweight champions Errol Spence Jr. and Terence Crawford now, and he thinks those two will avoid fighting him.
DiBella’s belief that Crawford and Spence will avoid Ennis could very well ring true because thus far, neither of those two champions have shown the slightest amount of interest in taking on the young 24-year-old ‘Boots.’
Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) and Crawford (37-0, 28 KOs) want to remain champions for as long as possible, and if either of them takes the risk of fighting Ennis, they could see their title reigns end abruptly.
Will Spence & Crawford duck Ennis?
In Crawford’s case, it’s unlikely he’ll ever willingly agree to defend his WBO strap against the talented Ennis without being ordered by the World Boxing Organization.
I mean, the 34-year-old Crawford has been a professional since 2008, and he’s only now finally getting around to fighting his first high-profile opponent in Shawn Porter on November 20th.
Porter, 33, is clearly on the downside of his career at this point, having lost to Spence in 2019 and arguably beaten by Yordenis Ugas in the same year.
At this point, Porter is a fading B-level fighter who hasn’t fought a quality opponent since his loss to Spence in September 2019.
Ennis (28-0, 26 KOs) put IBF/WBC 147-lb champion and WBO belt holder Terence Crawford on notice last Saturday night with his first round knockout win over former world title challenger Thomas Dulorme (25-6-1, 16 KOs) on SHOWTIME at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
“I think Boots beats Crawford and Spence. And I said what I said,” said Lou DiBella on Twitter. “Boots has skill out the ying-yang and has frightening offense. He’s the young, hungry lion in the division and, in my opinion, is the scariest challenge to the big names. #boxing.”
DiBella isn’t the only one that has concluded that Ennis will beat BOTH Crawford and Spence now. Many boxing fans believe the same thing, as does Chris Williams.
Spence and Crawford are now OLD lions ready to be picked off by the younger lion Ennis, and you can bet they’re going to steer a wide berth around the youngster.
“He’s a great fighter. He’s a young fighter, but he’s great,” said Kenny Porter to Fighthype in reacting to Ennis’ first round knockout win over Ennis. “He’s already looking like a world champion. Absolutely, his future is bright .”
When Shawn Porter was asked about his reaction to Ennis’ win during the same interview, he chose not to comment. Porter’s silence on Ennis’ victory suggests that he doesn’t want to deal with the pressure from the boxing public in having to fight him.
If Porter were to comment on Ennis’ win, fans would immediately start clamoring for him to face him, provided he wins his next fight against Crawford on November 20th.
If Porter loses to Crawford, as many expect, he’s off the hook because no one will expect him to fight Ennis. After all, he would be viewed as on the downside of his career. It doesn’t take a loss to Crawford to tell you that Porter’s time as a significant player is quickly coming to an end.
Thomas Dulorme complaining about rabbit punch
“I want to thank all my fans for their support, but tonight I received an illegal blow in the first round; it is not an excuse; you can see the replay, and I could not recover without taking credit from Ennis; he is a great fighter, but tonight it was not fair for me,” said Dulorme on Instagram.
Dulorme bent forward and ran into a big left hook from Ennis in the first knockdown in the first. That didn’t look like an intentional rabbit punch from Ennis but rather a case of Dulorme bending forward to expose the back of his head.