By Jim Calfa: Stephen Espinoza responded to the criticism from promoter Eddie Hearn about the recent inactivity of the PBC fighters Jermell & Jermall Charlo and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, pointing out that they’ve all had reasons for not fighting.
Espinoza says WBC middleweight champion Jermall is dealing with a “personal situation,” and his twin brother, undisputed 154-lb champ Jermell has had a “hand injury” that has kept him from fighting since last year.
As for the undefeated interim WBO welterweight champion ‘Boots’ Ennis, he’d been waiting to see if he could get a title shot against IBF/WBA/WBC champ Errol Spence Jr or WBO belt-holder Terence Crawford.
Now that those two have agreed to battle on July 29th, Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs) has scheduled a fight against the highly ranked #2 IBF Roiman Villa (26-1, 24 KOs) on July 8 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The fight will be shown live on Showtime.
Espinoza feels that the Matchroom Boxing promoter Hearn may not have been following what’s going on with the Charlo brothers or Ennis. So his comments are made by someone who isn’t clear on the subject he’s talking about.
“Look, you got to take it with a grain of salt. I mean, everybody knows that everything Eddie [Hearn] does is the greatest thing in the world and he thinks everything everyone else does is terrible,” said Showtime’s Stephen Espinoza to Boxing King Media, reacting to British promoter Eddie Hearn criticizing the inactivity of PBC fighters Jermell & Jermall Charlo and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, to name just a few.
“If he was following anything or had any idea what he was talking about, he would know that Jermell is still dealing with a hand injury. Jermall is dealing with a personal situation.
“Jaron Ennis was waiting for this fight [Errol Spence Jr vs. Terence Crawford] to be made to see whether he would get one of the two of them or potentially Keith Thurman.
“So inactivity, if we’re not paying attention, can be something that’s just problematic, but if there are reasons for it, then there isn’t a reason for criticism. As soon as we made this fight [Spence-Crawford], Ennis scheduled his fight [against Roiman Villa on July 8 on Showtime], and he’s looking to get into the title mix at 147 as quickly as possible.
“So look, you know those fighters, they’re the ones that are active. They all want to be active, and the ones that are not, there’s typically a reason for that,” said Espinoza.
