By Chris Williams: Showtime boss Stephen Espinoza has made it 100% clear that the fight that he feels is the biggest that can be made in the welterweight division is the young superstar in the making Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis going up against undisputed 147-lb champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford next.
If Showtime wants Crawford to fight Ennis, that’s the way for him to go because they’re the ones with the money. They’re the boss, so Crawford should give them what they want and bite the bullet to face ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Look at it this way. If Crawford loses to Boots, he can always blame the loss on his advanced age, and his fans will give him a free pass. At 36, Crawford is an old timer in the sport, so he’s got a ready-made excuse to pull out of his pocket if Boots destroys him.
Is Crawford afraid of Boots?
Some boxing fans believe that Crawford is afraid of fighting the young talent ‘Boots’ Ennis because this guy wouldn’t be weight drained from having lost 40+ lbs during training camp like Errol Spence, and he hasn’t been involved in a car crash, having been thrown out of a fast-moving Ferrari, landing on the pavement.
If Errol Spence Jr. elects to delay using his rematch clause to try and avenge his loss to Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), the logical fight to make for the Omaha, Nebraska native would be against ‘Boots’ Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs).
Crawford, 36, can forget about his pipe dream of fighting undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez or Jermell Charlo next because that is NOT happening.
The two scenarios:
A. Jermell beats Canelo. There will be an immediate rematch between them. Canelo isn’t going to take a loss to Charlo and then allow him to march off to defend his newly won undisputed 168-lb championship against Crawford. Canelo likely has a rematch clause for his fight with Jermell on September 30th, and he’ll undoubtedly use it.
B. Jermell loses to Canelo. A loss for Jermell would make a fight between him and Crawford less interesting for the boxing public. Fans won’t want to pay to watch Crawford fight a recently beaten Jermell Charlo on Showtime PPV. Besides that, Jermell would need to strip off all the muscle he’s packed on for the Canelo fight, which could leave him just as weight drained as poor Errol Spence for his fight with Crawford.
Crawford’s options next fight:
1. Errol Spence Jr. – rematch
2. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis
3. Tim Tszyu
4. Jermell Charlo
5. Canelo Alvarez
6. Keith Thurman
“I love the Boots fight. I think it’s the best fight that can be made in the welterweight division. That toss-up. You put [Keith Thurman, Boots, and Crawford in the mix. Any two of those three guys is a top-tier fight,” said Stephen Espinoza to Fighthype about who he’d like to see Terence Crawford fight next.
“I would say his preference is Charlo, and if that fight can’t happen, then a fight at 147,” said Stephen about who Crawford wants next.
