Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis avoided by champions for a reason says Cody Crowley

By Boxing News - 01/01/2023 - Comments

By Adam Baskin: Cody Crowley says the welterweight champions are avoiding undefeated #1 IBF contender Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for a reason.

The current champions at 147, Errol Spence Jr and Terence Crawford, have a good thing going, taking easy fights against beatable opposition and making millions.

Why would Crawford & Spence want to spoil what they got going by taking on a young cat like Boots Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs) and be sent back to the salt mines, earning less money as contenders after being dethroned by the 26-year-old.

They know he’s a major problem and won’t fight him for “a couple of million dollars,” said Crowley to Thaboxingvoice.

There’s a reason why world champions won’t fight him, right? But then they go and try and throw him to someone else and offer them pennies to fight him,” said Cody Crowley to Thaboxingvoice about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.

“Meanwhile, world champions won’t fight him for a couple of million dollars. You’ve got [Keith] Thurman, who says he wants ten million dollars to step in the ring with him,” Crowley continued about Jaron Ennis.

“I’m just talking about what I see,” said Cody when asked how he knows the champions are avoiding Boots Ennis. “There are other outlets that are sharing news.”

Boots Ennis is facing Karen Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KOs) in a 12-round co-feature spot next Saturday, January 7th, for the interim IBF welterweight title to try and force International Boxing Federation champion Spence to fight.

It’s not enough that Boots Ennis is already the IBF mandatory. Now, he’s got to fight for the interim IBF title to try and further create pressure on Spence to defend against him.

If this were the old days, a champion would have already defended against Boots Ennis without him needing to fight for an interim belt. It would be enough that he was so well respected and considered the #1 contender in the 1147-lb division.

Many boxing fans believe that Spence, 32, will move up to 154 this year after he takes on a soft opponent in April and avoids Boots Ennis altogether.

Crawford has shown no interest in mixing it with Ennis, and he’ll likely move up to 154 without facing. You can argue that Crawford’s situation is even more desperate because he’s getting older, about to turn 36, and fighting only once a year against weak opposition.