By Chris Williams: Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis predicts a knockout victory for himself over Custio Clayton in their IBF welterweight title eliminator on May 14th on Showtime in Los Angeles.
Boots Ennis (28-0, 26 KOs) and Clayton (19-0-1, 12 KOs) will be fighting in the co-feature spot on the Jermell Charlo vs. Brian Castano card in LA.
The Ennis vs. Clayton fight winner will be the IBF mandatory challenger to champion Errol Spence Jr. That’s a fight that the 24-year-old Ennis wants, and he is also targeting WBO 147-lb champion Terence Crawford.
Ennis was amused when told that analyst Tim Bradley’s comments about Crawford putting him to sleep and that he brings nothing to the table for him. Boots Ennis says he wants to make Bradley “eat his words.”
The weird part about what Bradley said is that he doesn’t want Boots Ennis to fight Crawford at all, which is odd because it’s not as if the Nebraska native has been fighting top-caliber fighters.
Crawford has been fighting old guys lately like Shawn Porter, Kell Brook, and Amir Khan at 147. The other fighters Crawford has fought have been nothing special, with him beating Jeff Horn, Jose Benavidez Jr, and Egidijus Kavaliauskas.
If Crawford isn’t going to be fighting Errol Spence Jr anytime soon, why wouldn’t Bradley want him to face Jaron Ennis?
Boots says he’ll prove Tim Bradley wrong
“I’ve got to keep making statements, and I intend on doing that on May 14th against Custio Clayton,” said Jaron Ennis to Blue Blood Sports TV. “Once I make the statement, there’s no denying me. They’ve got to see me; I’m here to take over this game.
“I’m going to keep proving myself and showing the world. I’m going to make Tim Bradley eat his words,” Boots said in reacting to Bradley predicting a victory for Crawford over him.
“As long as I beat this guy, I’m #1 contender [with the IBF]. I would love to make that fight too,” said Ennis when told that Stephen Espinoza of Showtime Sports would like to make a fight between him and WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with these retired boxers. They must have got hit too much in the head. They know that, and he knows that. They’re not messing with me,” said Boots Ennis when told that Tim Bradley thinks Crawford would knock him out.
Bradley has been waiting for Crawford to get his shot at the big time against Spence for many years, but it hasn’t happened because he’s been fighting on a different network and was with Top Rank.
Now that Crawford is no longer with Top Rank, the chances of him and Spence fighting have improved. However, that fight still likely won’t occur next because Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) will probably fight Keith Thurman after his April 16th unification battle against WBA champion Yordenis Ugas.
“I can see Roy Jones and Sugar Ray Leonard, but not Terence Crawford. Me and Terence Crawford have totally different styles,” said Ennis when told that Roy Jones Jr. said he reminds him of himself, Sugar Ray, and Crawford.
“Terence Crawford switches, but he’s not naturally gifted on both sides. When he gets in trouble, he turns southpaw.
“With me, I’m naturally gifted both ways, I’m comfortable both ways, and I can fight a whole fight one way and still be comfortable the same way,” Boots Ennis said about his ability as a switch hitter.
Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs) is 34 now, and he and Ennis will need to fight soon before the Nebraska native gets too old for the match to be worth watching.
Terence has never fought an elite fighter during his 14-year-old professional career.
You can argue that Crawford’s closest thing to fighting an elite guy was the faded Kell Brook, who was nowhere near the fighter he’d been when he battled Gennadiy Golovkin in 2016 and Spence in 2017.
Ennis sees Thurman as “easy” work
“I think Spence is going to break him down and probably get a stoppage,” said Ennis in predicting a victory for Errol Spence Jr. over Yordenis Ugas on April 16th.
“I feel I can beat anybody; I know I can beat anybody,” said Boots Ennis when asked if he thinks he can beat Canelo Alvarez. “I always stay in the gym. When I’m locked in, there ain’t no turning back.
“I’m dangerous at all times. I know I can beat anybody. That’s a good fight, but I don’t think Crawford should jump in with a top guy,” said Ennis when asked about his thoughts on who would win in a fight between Crawford and Jermell Charlo.
“I think he should take a warmup fight at 154 because he doesn’t know how his body is going to feel at that weight, especially those guys at 154 come down from 190. He doesn’t know how he’s going to react to getting hit by a 154-pounder.
“I love it,” said Jaron when asked if he’d like to fight Keith Thurman. “If I can’t get Crawford and I can’t get Spence, the next best choice is Keith Thurman,” said Ennis.
“Me doing my thing with Keith, having fun with it, picking him apart, making it easy, and getting a stoppage. I see he don’t like body shots. He’s always spitting his mouthpiece out. That’s one of my main things. I love going to the body,” said Ennis about what he’d do to Thurman when or if they fight.
Former WBA/WBC welterweight champion Keith Thurman has already made it clear that Boots Ennis is not on his radar for future fights that he’s interested in taking.
Thurman wants the title shot against IBF/WBC welterweight champion Spence and a fight with Crawford.
Apart from those two fights, Thurman will probably focus on taking winnable matches against guys that give him nice paydays without being too risky.
Unfortunately, Boots will probably never get a shot against Thurman. Chris Williams hopes he’s wrong about that but probably won’t be.
Ennis predicts knockout of Clayton
May 14th, make sure you tune in. Don’t miss a spectacular knockout,” Boots said about his next fight against Custio Clayton on Showtime. “Watch me shine and do my thing. You’re going to see me do some new things,” said Boots Ennis about his next fight against Clayton.
“I can’t wait to bring the world title, unified title, and undisputed back to Philadelphia. What can I say? They’re going to say anything and everything not to fight me,” said Ennis when told that Crawford said that he should face former two-division world champion Danny Garcia to prove himself before facing him.
“I’m focused on the guys in front of me, and then I’ll see those guys next or later,” said Ennis about Crawford. “They know what’s up. They’re trying to beat around the bush. They know I want the top guys like Crawford and Spence, Ugas and Keith Thurman.
“Everybody is trying to beat around the bush. I’m going to continue to make my name, keep making a statement and continue to knock these guys out. They’re going to have to see me eventually.
“I always stay in some kind of shape because you never know when you’re going to get a call or something may happen to a fighter that fights a month before you.
“So you’ve got to stay in some kind of shape. That way, you can take somebody’s spot and take over a big opportunity. You never know,” said Boots Ennis.
