Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis says he’s ready to face Terence Crawford next at 147 or 154. Boots says Crawford could have fought in 2022 but picked a fighter ranked below him in the WBO’s rankings, David Avanesyan, for him to defend his belt against on BLK Prime.
The magic question is, why did Crawford choose the little-known Avanesyan, a fighter who had been knocked out in six rounds by Egidijus Kavaliauskas in 2018, to defend against on December 10, 2022, when he could have fought Boots Ennis?
It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it? The hard-hitting, talented young phenom Boots Ennis was dangerous, especially for an older guy in his mid-30s with a resume barren of quality.
Crawford won a lot of titles, but against lesser guys for the most part, and it would be a pure nightmare for him to go up against Boots Ennis. As such, he fought David Avanesyan and got an easy win in a fight that wasn’t even sporting.
Newly crowned IBF welterweight champion Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) states that he’ll take on WBA/WBC/WBO 147-lb champ Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) in early 2024 if he doesn’t fight Errol Spence Jr. in their rematch.
If they do fight, Boots says he’ll wait and face Crawford afterward. Of course, it would be up to Ohama, Nebraska native Crawford if he wants to face the 26-year-old Jaron Ennis.
It’s understandable if Crawford chooses to go in a different direction, picking someone like the down-in-his-luck recently beaten Jermell Charlo rather than face Boots Ennis.
If Crawford does show bravery by going to battle with Boots, he could live to regret it, but at least he’d go out like a warrior by not dodging being sent to the front lines.
Even if Crawford got taken out by Ennis, at least he’d have tried instead of going in the direction of the weaker target, Avanesyan & the weight-drained, car crash-wrecked Errol Spence.
Crawford could have fought Boots in 2022
“With that WBO route stuff. I didn’t get out of the WBO until he made his decision to fight David Avanesyan. People don’t know the timeline between it. I didn’t fight for the IBF interim until he made his decision to fight David Avanesyan,” said Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to YSM Sports Media about former undisputed welterweight champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford.
“Everybody in the welterweight division was waiting for Spence & Bud to fight, and Bud came out of nowhere and fought David Avanesyan, which was right under me. You [Crawford] could have fought me. You could have easily have picked me,” said Ennis.
Why did Crawford choose to fight the 35-year-old Avaneysan, a guy that casual boxing fans in the U.S. have never heard of or had zero interest in seeing, instead of picking Boots Ennis?
It seems so obvious and pathetic at the same time. Why in all that’s good would Crawford pick Avaneysan when he could have fought Boots in a legacy-defining fight that would have made boatloads of sweet cash and increased his fame if he were victorious?
“That’s definitely, that’s cap. They reached out to me after I fought Karen [Chukhadzhian] in January, and Bud already fought in December,” said Boots Ennis when told that some boxing fans are under the impression that BLK Prime reached out to him before the David Avanesyan fight to face Crawford, which took place in December 2022.
“They [BLK Prime] reached out to me after I fought Karen in January, and they were trying to get me. They were trying to sign me and things like that, and they asked me if I would fight him, and I said, ‘Yeah.’ After that, we never heard nothing back.”
Many fans feel that Bud Crawford is scared of Boots because he’s far more talented than the guys he’s been facing during his career. Boots Ennis is like a better version of Crawford once you remove the useless gimmickry of switch-hitting & dancing around that he does.
Crawford likely knows that he’d be a doomed man if he were to face Boots at this late stage of his career because this is the type of talent that you want to face as early on as possible, not when you’re nearing 40, and with one foot out the door into retirement.
“There was no contract sent. It was basically like word of mouth. I never got no contract or nothing. These guys got to stop capping. It’s making boxing look bad, honestly. I’m just sick & tired of the capping, talking, all of that. I want that fight [Crawford],” said Boots.
Ennis wants Crawford next
“It’s up to them. If they decide to fight each other and I got to wait, I’ll wait,” said Boots Ennis when asked if he wants to face the winner of the Crawford vs. Errol Spence rematch in 2024. “If he don’t fight Spence, I’ll take that right now in a heartbeat.”
So there it is. Boots Ennis is ready to take the fight with Crawford right now or wait if he has to for the smoke to clear from his pointless rematch against the shell of Spence.
Ideally, Errol should take a couple of rebuilding fights to get his head together and show the fans that he’s still cogent at 34 and not the feeble, ruined-looking fighter they saw stumbling around the ring against Crawford last July.
If Spence steps aside, he can allow Boots to soften up Crawford for him, so when they do fight again, it’ll be a little more even.
“Would I? Everybody already knows I’m a big welterweight. So, 154, that’s lovely for me,” said Boots when asked if he’d go up to 154 to fight Crawford.
When Crawford does move up to 154, he’ll be looking for two fights only, one against Spence and the other against Tim Tszyu. After that, he’ll probably call out Canelo Alvarez, and if he doesn’t get that fight, he’ll retire to his huge, newly built mansion in Omaha, Nebraska.
If Crawford wants to impress the boxing world, he’ll fight Boots Ennis before or after the rematch with Spence to give the fans what they want to see, because that’s a much better fight than Terence taking on Jermell Charlo, whose popularity has nosedived after his cowardly performance against Canelo.
