IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will return to his hometown of Philadelphia against challenger Cody Crowley on July 13th.
(Photo credit: Andrew Maclean/Matchroom)
Unification Bouts & Move to 154
After Boots Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) gets Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs) out of the way, he could fight in back-to-back undisputed clashes against WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis and WBC champ Mario Barrios if his promoter Eddie Hearn can set up the fights.
Hearn wants to quickly put these fights together for Boots, and then have him move up to 154 for a mega-fight against Terence Crawford. That’s the match that will cement Ennis, 26, into a superstar by beating the former two-time undisputed champion.
Crawford will be a year older by then, nearing 38 and he may not have much left in the tank by the time the fight happens next year or in early 2026. It would be in Crawford’s best interest to fight Boots now rather than waiting a year or two because he might be too old by then to turn back the young phenom.
“How on earth has Boots Ennis not boxed and headlined in Philadelphia? Is it laziness? Do you want to keep him in a box?” promoter Eddie Hearn asked the media about IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis defending against Cody Crowley in his hometown on July 13th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Boots has been fighting all over the place in the last six years, and his promoters have failed to take advantage of his ability by keeping him active as he should have been. Despite his talent, he’s not a big name, which is one of the reasons Crawford hasn’t shown interest in fighting him.
“I reckon by the end of today, we’ll be 8,000 [tickets sold]. We got nine weeks to go before the event,” said Hearn. “For a special fighter, that’s when you’re going to get the best out of them when you make them feel like a star.
“I want to see him beat Crowley and then unify against Stanionis, Barrios, and those kind of guys. His Excellency has already said that he loves the Terence Crawford – Boots Ennis fight. I took him to see him. He knows his boxing. The thing is with Terence, he also knows.
“Terence thinks he can beat anyone, and he’s a pound-for-pound great. He’s a legend of the sport, but he also knows his boxing and he knows how good Boots Ennis is. He’ll fight him, but only for the big bag. But we got to make the fight big enough for someone to pay the big bag,” said Hearn about a fight between Crawford and Ennis.
Read the full article here
