IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis has amazing talent and is viewed as the heir apparent as the #1 fighter in the 147-lb division, now that Terence Crawford has lost interest in the weight class.
The 26-year-old Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) has the skills and fighting style to be a superstar, but his inability to market himself is holding him back from becoming a big name in the sport.
Too Humble for His Own Good?
Boots Ennis’ low-key personality doesn’t create enough interest in his fights and his career to put him among the big names in the sport. Boxing is entertainment, both in and outside of the ring.
It’s even more important that fighters can trash talk and sell themselves in interviews and on social media. This is what drives PPV numbers.
Fighters like Ryan Garcia are popular because he works his tail off posting on social media daily, coming up with great soundbites in interviews, and being always prepared with ideas to generate interest in his career.
In contrast, Ennis occasionally posts on social media, but it’s rare and mostly short, neutral stuff that fails to get the media’s and fans’ attention. He doesn’t have nearly the same social media presence as Ryan or some of the other well-known fighters, which further hurts his career.
We see fighters with far less talent than Boots Ennis, like Devin Haney, capturing much attention and making big money with fewer physical tools. Why is that? Ennis’ humble demeanor is holding him back from achieving mainstream stardom.
Haney’s dad, Bill, has helped market him and turn him into a star with his hustling, promoting him with his verbal skills and putting him in the right fights that are winnable ones for him.
That’s what’s missing from Boots Ennis. He’s not a great talker, and he doesn’t have a PR person or a promoter who can sell him the way Haney has with his dad.
Boots Ennis Needs A bigger Personality
The talent is there for Boots Ennis, but he needs a bigger personality to amplify his reach to the fans of the sport because right now he’s invisible and being eclipsed by less talented fighters like the Haney as mentioned earlier and Garcia.
If Ennis can’t change his personality to sell himself, he needs to hire a PR person who can give interviews on a daily and post on social media for him to say the right things to get more attention.