Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford will reportedly be vacating his WBC welterweight title soon, moving up to 154, and interim champ Mario Barrios will be elevated & then face IBF champ Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in a unification fight in 2024.
The winner of the Boots vs. Barrios fight will hold two belts, and will be in position for some big matches, one of which could be against Devin Haney when he moves up to 147 soon.
Crawford to move up
Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) is fighting a rematch against Errol Spence Jr. in early 2024, possibly at 154, and then Terence could move up to 168 to challenge undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez for his four belts this year.
Crawford would be in a good position to face Canelo in September, if not May. Fighting in May might be difficult for Terence with him off a second fight with Spence. Terence wants the bigger fights, and Canelo would be the ideal one for him in 2024.
It would obviously anger David Benavidez to see Crawford getting the fight that he’s been pressuring the Mexican star for all these years, but oh well.
Ennis’ time to shine
“That’s going to happen. I’m sure about that,” said Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis to YSM Sports Media about Mario Barrios fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in 2024. “That fight does make sense. We can put those titles up.
“We can do that. He’s [Barrios] next in line, then we’re going to take it. I didn’t know it was going to happen like that,” said Bozy about his surprise that Barrios beat Yordenis Ugas. “The truth. I thought Ugas was going to take it, but I don’t know what kind of effect he had when he fought Spence [in 2022] because he was beat up kind of bad.
“And [Barrios] didn’t make it no better because he did the same thing to him. So, I think that’s a problem for that size of his face. Mario looked good. He boxed and moved. He didn’t stay there. He didn’t bang with him, only when he had him where he was supposed to have him at.
“I mean, once he started blinding him with his eyes, swelling them. Then he started digging down. He looked good. No,” said Bozy when told that it doesn’t look like he’s going to get a fight for Boots in 2024 against Crawford or Spence.
Boots wants the titles
“All the ones in the top five. All the ones that have a title because they’re going to be splitting the titles up” said Bozy on who he wants Boots Ennis to fight in 2024. “So whoever gets the titles, that’s who we’re going after, and once we do that, we’re going to move on.”
Barrios (28-2, 18 KOs) captured the WBC interim welterweight title last September, beating former WBA champion Yordenis Ugas by a twelve round unanimous decision. Mario wants bigger & better things and will be facing Boots in 2024 unless Haney gets to him first.
Devin is in negotiations to defend his WBC light welterweight title against Ryan Garcia. If Haney can’t get that fight made, he’ll move up to 147 and likely take on Barrios for his WBC title. If Haney times it right, he could face Barrios after he’s elevated to the full WBC welterweight champion.
