By Dan Ambrose: Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis confirmed to the media on Thursday that IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr has 120 days to defend against him after his next fight in April.
Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs) still must defeat Karen Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KOs) this Saturday night in their 12-round fight for the interim IBF welterweight title on Showtime PPV at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C. Boots Ennis the favorite to win that fight, but an upset is always possible if he gets careless.
Spence can always vacate and get permission from the IBF to sidestep Boots Ennis so that he can face WBO champion Terence Crawford for the undisputed championship at 147. He can also pay Boots a step aside to temporarily get him out of the way.
“If it was up to me, I’d be fighting these guys back to back to back,” said Jaron Ennis to Fighthype when asked if he would rather let the Vergil Ortiz Jr fight marinate so it’ll be bigger in the future.
“I don’t [want to wait], but I understand that it’s a business, and everybody has got to make money. So maybe, yeah, we can make it marinate a little bit. If it were up to me, I would want it now, though, because I love fighting, and I love beating people up and knocking people out.
“If I could fight these guys every weekend, I would. That’s how I am. I just love fighting. Yeah, I think it’s 120 days or something like that,” said Boots Ennis when asked if it’s true that Errol Spence has to fight him next after Spence’s next bout in April.
“That’s what’s supposed to be going on. We’ll see what happens. I think he will fight me,” said Ennis about Spence. “Like I said before, I don’t think no man is scared of nobody.
“I feel like he will fight me. But if he moves up and I fight for a vacant belt, that’s fine too. It really doesn’t matter. I’d rather take the belt from a champion because I’ll feel better.
“I think it would be kind of exciting, but like I say, it’s different over here,” said Ennis when asked if a fight between him and Rashedi Ellis would be exciting due to the arguing that he did with him during Thursday’s final press conference.
“People don’t understand until they really see it with their own eyes. It’s definitely different over here, and they’re going to see. You can put any of those guys at the top of the [pound-for-pound] list because they’re fighting the top guys.
“The only reason I said Canelo is because he’s jumping up in weight, fighting different guys. He’s still winning and undisputed. He’s got a lot of stuff going on. But then again, you can make an argument for Errol Spence because he’s got three belts in the welterweight division.
“You can say something about Bud because he made a mark at 140, and he’s trying to do something at 147. So it could be anybody. You could put the Charlos up there. Inoue. You could put anybody on the pound-for-pound list.
“They’re all tough fights. We don’t know,” said Ennis when asked if Canelo Alvarez beats David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo, and Demetrius Andrade. “They’re all styles that can give Canelo a problem. Canelo is a legend, but we’ll see. I feel those styles will give him a hard time, though.
“Bivol coming down to 168, that might make him a little weak or stronger. We don’t know if he’s having a hard time making 175 or not. It could be pros and cons to that, so I don’t know.
“He could possibly be stronger & faster at 168, or he could be slower & drained. I would lean towards Canelo if Canelo goes in there and doesn’t throw so much power early. In the first fight, he was bombing for the first four rounds, trying to knock him out.
“I feel like if he’s more smooth, more calm trying to take his time. Bivol is definitely nice & technical. I like his style.
“Don’t miss this knockout. Stay tuned,” said Ennis about his fight this Saturday night.
