Eddie Hearn’s big signing of the unbeaten IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis today has fans wondering whether he’ll sacrifice Conor Benn to him in his first fight with Matchroom Boxing this summer.
The Right Kind of Sacrifice
Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) would be a good first offering for this supreme talent, Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs). It would be good for Hearn to get off on the right foot with Boots Ennis by offering up the unbeaten Benn, with his inflated record, to give fans a worthwhile fight on DAZN PPV.
It would be an excellent gesture by Hearn to throw Conor Benn to the wolves by feeding him to Boots Ennis.
American Interest Lacking, Brits Will Eat It Up
If Eddie is going to build Ennis into a big name, he’s got to put him up against fighters that the fans want to see him fight. Ennis vs. Benn isn’t a fight that will interest American fans, but the Brits will love this match-up.
A big reason for that is fans want to see Benn knocked down a peg and exposed as being a mediocre, fake, manufactured fighter. Putting him in with Boots Ennis will spotlight his true talent level or lack thereof.
The Challenge of Finding Worthy Opponents
The problem that Hearn is going to have is finding worthwhile opposition willing to fight Boots. Let’s face it: Ennis is not someone rival promoters will want to match their fighters against because they know they’ll lose and be stuck with a guy with diminished marketability.
Boots isn’t a big enough star for other fighters to agree to fight him. If he was on the level of Canelo Alvarez, where his opponents would make millions fighting him, it would be easy for Hearn to get guys to fight him.
The way things are now, Hearn will only get opponents for Boots if he overpays them by offering big money, making it worthwhile for them to get beaten. If Hearn is unwilling to invest the money in Boots Ennis’ career by overpaying his opponents, he’ll be wasted, just like Demetrius Andrade when he was with Matchroom.
When Andrade was with him, Hearn matched him with British fighters, and not surprisingly, his career failed to rise. We’re seeing the same thing with Edgar Berlanga, who signed Matchroom in 2023. Hearn has put him in with two Brits, Jason Quigley and Padraig McCrory. His popularity is not increasing.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum won’t feed any of his guys like Teofimo Lopez, Xander Xayas, Jamaine Ortiz, Shakur Stevenson, or Janibek Alimkhanuly with Boots Ennis and watch them lose.
Boots Ennis is too good. Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya isn’t crazy enough to let Vergil Ortiz fight Boots, either, because he would be destroyed.
Who Else is Out There?
– Devin Haney
– Giovanni Santillan
– Devin Haney
– Errol Spence
– Erickson Lubin
– Sebastian Fundora
– Surbeil Matias
According to the Matchroom press release, Boots Ennis will be fighting this summer, but they’re not saying who. As I said, Hearn should match Conor Benn against Boots in his first fight with them to get off on a good foot with his company. From there, Hearn needs to do the best he can to scour the weight classes to find someone that is willing to face Boots.