By Dan Ambrose: Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is hoping that his fight with Karen Chukhadzhian on January 7th will be his last before he challenges for a world title against welterweight champions Errol Spence Jr or Terence Crawford.
Ennis’ fight with Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KO will be for the interim IBF welterweight title, so he should be able to fight champion Spence in his next fight. It’ll depend on whether Spence has a free schedule or if he’s still holding the IBF belt.
Boots, 25, isn’t in a position where he can force WBO welterweight champion Crawford to fight him.
The only way Ennis can get a fight against Crawford is if he willingly agrees to face him, which is improbable or if the WBO makes him mandatory.
Again, that’s not happening without a time-consuming title eliminator. Even if Ennis wins a WBO-ordered title eliminator, it’s likely that Crawford will vacate and move up to 154 if he hasn’t already been beaten by Spence.
“I feel like being up ranked high enough, and maybe talking a little more,” said Jaron Ennis to Fighthype when asked what he needs to do for him to get the big names to fight him.
“Like I said, I don’t do the talking. I’m all bite. I don’t got to bark,” Boots Ennis continued. “I do my shouting in the ring.
“It ain’t no frustration because it’s coming soon,” said Boots when asked how he feels with the frustration that comes from 147-lb champions Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford not fighting him. “The longer they wait, the worse it’s going to be for them.
“Hopefully, I get them soon. That’s what we want. I think Spence will fight me. I don’t think no fighter is scared of nobody. I think if the price is right, we can make that happen.
“Hopefully, we can make that happen next,” said Ennis about him hoping he can face Crawford or Spence next.
“Definitely, Thurman has got a big name. He beat a lot of top guys. He’s older, but he can still fight,” said Boots Ennis when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman next. “I feel like that would be a great name to put on my resume too.
“I want to go forward. I don’t want to go backwards. I don’t want to fight nobody behind me. After this fight, after this win, and I look good and are victorious and get the knockout, everybody that is ahead of me, I just want to go forward,” said Ennis.
“Perfect,” said Boots Ennis when asked if he’d be interested in fighting Yordenis Ugas. “That’s a good fight too. He fought a lot of top guys too. He’s older, but he’s not bad. He can still fight.
“I feel like the better my competition the better I’m going to be,” said Ennis on whether he’s worried about fighting Spence. “It really don’t matter who is in front of me.
“I don’t care who you put in front of me. You can put a brick wall in front of me, and I’m going in there to kill. I’m not going in there to kill, but I’m going in there to do damage, put in work, and come out victorious. That’s what I want to do.
“When you’re fighting for a belt, you want to take that belt from somebody,” said Ennis when asked if he’d rather take the title from Spence or get it when the strap is vacant,” said Ennis.
“If I have to fight for a vacant belt, that’s cool too. It doesn’t matter. I just want my shot and fight these top guys.”
