By Jim Calfa: Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is not in Terence Crawford’s future plans because he wants to cash in on his victory over Errol Spence by fighting the big name in the remainder of his career by fighting a rematch with Errol, then Jermell Charlo and possibly Canelo Alvarez if he’ll agree to move down 10 lbs to 158 to give him a significant handicap to help him win.
With Crawford openly saying he’s not interested in fighting Bootss, it’s good that the Nebraska native is moving up to 154 because the last thing fans need is to have another champion that refuses to fight his mandatory challenger. Boots is Crawford’s IBF mandatory at 147.
Having gotten a taste of big money in his fight with Spence, Crawford only wants similar paydays against the top stars and isn’t going to return to fighting young upstarts.
It’s debatable whether Jermell will ever return to 154 because his life could change overnight if he beats Canelo on September 3oth.
The problem is Crawford might get an opportunity to fight Jermell or Canelo, as those guys are fighting at 168, and it would be a lot of trouble for them to come down to 154.
Right now, Crawford is assuming a lot by thinking Jermell will return to the 154-lb division to fight him after he wins or loses his fight against Canelo on September 30.
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) sees fighting Boots Ennis as a “lose-lose” situation where he won’t receive credit from the boxing public due to the 26-year-old’s lack of experience & acclaim.
Terence is already dealing with that problem because many boxing fans have discredited his win over the 33-year-old Spence, noting that he was weight drained for their fight on July 29th.
It’s been learned that Spence used training camp as a fat farm, trimming down from 200 lbs to 147 by dieting and doing a lot of running.
Spence reportedly ran five miles uphill in the heat of the sun in Nevada a week before his fight with Crawford.
“Fighting Boots is a lose-lose situation. If I win, they’re going say, ‘He was young, he wasn’t ready,” said Terence Crawford to Breakfast Club Power about his lack of interest in fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. ”
“This kid’s never been tested before. I’m trying to go up and fight Jermell Charlo. That’s history in the making. I’ve worked my a** off to get to where I am, and I deserve to do whatever the f*** I want to do.
“I don’t care what nobody says, how anybody feels, f*** ’em.”