Matchroom promote Eddie Hearn says he wants his new signee, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, to defend his IBF welterweight title against his mandatory Cody Crowley in Philadelphia in June or July.
Hearn says he wants to push for a fight against Terence Crawford for Boots, and he believes he beats him.
Crawford turns 37 in September and rarely fights. If Hearn waits too long, it could be a pointless fight for Boots to take. Crawford has become a Keith Thurman type, who makes only rare appearances.
First Up: Mandatory Challenger Cody Crowley
Once Boots (31-0, 28 KOs) gets that fight out of the way against the unbeaten Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs), Hearn then wants to look for the “big fights” for him to accomplish his goal of becoming undisputed champion at 147.
U.S fans don’t know the Canadian Crowley, but he’s got a few decent names on his resume, with victories over these guys:
– Abel Ramos
– Josesito Lopez
– Kudratillo Abdukakhorov
Hearn wants to match Boots against WBC interim welterweight champion Mario Barrios and WBA champ Eimantas Stanionis in unification fights. After that, Hearn hopes to put a fight together between Boots and Terence Crawford.
Hearn Believes Ennis Could Dethrone Terence Crawford
“I can’t remember an announcement that had the same kind of noise that the Boots signing had. This is one of the greatest signings of all time,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to Charlie Parson’s YouTube channel, talking about signing IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“I’ve been trying to sign Boots for five years. I’m honored that he’s signed with Matchroom and DAZN because I believe we have arguably the #1 pound-for-pound in the sport. That’s going to be one of our biggest challenges is to make sure we build him enough.
“The plan is he [Boots Ennis] has a mandatory [against Cody Crowley]. We want to try to make that fight in Philadelphia in June or early July and get that out of the way, and then look for the big fights.
“Mario Barrios and Stanionis, hopefully, those are fights that we can make for unifications. I believe Boots will be undisputed if we can make it happen, and 154. I think he can beat Terence Crawford. That’s the fight I want to push to make,” said Hearn.
