By Adam Baskin: Shakur Stevenson says unbeaten welterweight phenom Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will “destroy” former unified 147-lb champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman if that fight takes place.
Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) said recently that he’ll fight with ‘Boots’ Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) if the contract comes to him and it’s the only way he can feed his family.
Keith says if he can’t get the fight he wants against undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford, he would entertain a fight with the 26-year-old ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Unfortunately, Crawford likely won’t be available to fight Thurman until next year. Given that the 34-year-old Thurman hasn’t fought since February 2022, it wouldn’t be a good idea for him to sit inactive until 2024, waiting for the Crawford fight to finally fall into his lap.
The former WBA & WBC welterweight champion Thurman seems to be focused on getting the biggest money fight available to him and not interested in keeping his career active by taking other fights against top contenders like Ennis or anyone that poses a threat to him.
Ennis is the IBF mandatory to Crawford, but he’s not interested in fighting him either. Like Thurman, Crawford is focused on getting the biggest money fights available, and doesn’t want to mess with Boots.
Boots “destroys” Thurman
“Me and ‘Boots,’ we came up together. We were in the amateurs together. I used to dominate the amateurs, and then you got Boots; he was another person dominating with me,” said Shakur Stevenson to MillCity Boxing, talking about welterweight phenom Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“All the tournaments that we went to, we were fighting for the best boxer of the tournament in a lot of tournaments that we went to. We were really talking about it with each other. ‘I’m going to win’ or he’s going to win.
“Just to see him doing his thing. I’ve been knowing that ‘Boots’ is the truth. If you put him in the ring with Keith Thurman, he’s going to beat the hell out of him. Even with what Keith Thurman is saying, ‘I got to feed my family, I’ll take the fight.’
It’s disappointing to see how Thurman has stopped being an active fighter since his fight with Danny Garcia in 2017. Despite Thurman winning a close twelve round split decision over Garcia, his ambition disappeared, and he’s only fought three times since.
It’s unclear whether it was the money that Thurman made in the fight with Danny or the lack of confidence that caused him to stop fighting actively. What’s clear is that Thurman is more interested in talking about the good old days than in keeping active.
Although Thurman is only 34, he sounds like an old man, always talking about the past and not living in the present or focused on the future.
“That sounds like somebody who will take the fight for the money but not take it as seriously as he should. I already know that ‘Boots’ he’ll destroy Keith Thurman,” said Shakur.
‘One Time’ doesn’t want Ennis fight
“I told Claressa [Shields] that if she was going to fight him, I’ll train her and help work with her. Not train her, but us could come and train together,” said Shakur, reacting to being told that Thurman said that a fight between him and female boxer Claressa Shields would get more attention than a clash against ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Thurman would look bad if he were to swerve Boots in favor of a fight with Claressa Shields, but you can’t put it past ‘One Time’ to go in that direction because it would be easy money for him.
“Hell, yeah,” said Stevenson when asked if he supports a fight between Claressa and Thurman. “I’m a little biased because I have a close relationship with Claressa. I just want to see her prevail. As far as her being a girl, there are no girls that can compete with her. There’s nothing that nobody would want to see.
“They can give her any competition because she’s literally the greatest girl fighter on the planet. I would entertain it [a fight with Thurman] because it gives her more competition.
“Yeah, I would probably take on training [after retiring]. Like I said, I love boxing. I would definitely help the younger generation get better. I’m already doing it.
“In my regular free time with my cousin, I’m giving him pad work and helping him out. Even little Manny, I have Manny with me all the time. I try to help them grow and be the best version of themself,” said Stevenson.
