Brian Norman Jr’s dad, Brian Sr., says Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will never be undisputed welterweight champion because he has a promoter Eddie Hearn “who doesn’t want to play ball” by negotiating fairly.
Norman Sr. Reveals Purse Disparity: Hearn’s “Kingly” Attitude
Norman Sr. revealed that IBF 147-lb champion Boots Ennis will be paid $5 million for his November 9th fight. He says Hearn is acting like a King, thinking he’s dealing with mere peasants, offering $1.75 million for WBO welterweight champion Norman Jr. to fight in “enemy territory” in Philadelphia on November 9th.
Norman Sr. says he’s still “optimistic” the fight with Boots (32-0, 29 KOs) will happen, but they’ll need the $1.7 million offer from Hearn increased by $500,000 to $2.2 million because he wants his son, Brian Jr, to take home $1.2 million after tax deductions and Top Rank’s 25%.
Brian Sr. says they’ll only agree to the $1.7 million offer if the fight with Boots Ennis is held on “neutral territory” in Las Vegas. However, Hearn likely won’t agree to that because he wants to stage the November 9th fight at the 21,000-seat Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, where a Boots-Norman Jr. clash would likely sell out due to the interest the match would have.
Staging the fight in Philadelphia would bring in a lot of revenue, which would help cover the purses of the two fighters.
“He [Hearn] didn’t want to get it done. If Boots made $3.3 million [for David Avanesyan fight], he’s going to make at least $5 [million] for this one. So, it’s a unification bout, so he’s going to make at least five [million] for this,” said Brian Norman Sr. to the Thaboxingvoice YouTube channel about the $5M purse that Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will receive compared to the $1.7 million that Brian Norman Jr. has been offered to fight in enemy territory on November 9th in Philadelphia.
With Boots Ennis getting $5 million, it is no wonder Hearn is digging in his heels, not wanting to budge from the $1.75 million offered to Norman Jr. However, if Hearn wants to increase Boots Ennis’ popularity by helping him become the undisputed champion at 147, he must find the money. It’s only $500K extra, which shouldn’t break the bank.
Boots Ennis could help out by choosing to give up $500,000 from his purse to give to Norman Jr. to get this match over the line. After all, it’s Ennis’s career, and he’s the one who will benefit in the long run if he becomes an undisputed champion.
If he’s going to let Hearn give up on negotiations over $500K, Boots’ goal of becoming undisputed will be done, and he’ll need to move up to 154 to find other fights. Of course, if this is happening now with Hearn refusing to pay an extra half a million to get the fights for Boots, it’ll likely happen at 154 as well.
Boots Ennis must examine that and predict his future under the British promoter. If Hearn gives up on one negotiation over that little money, he’ll likely do it again, no matter where Boots goes.
“Boots wants to be undisputed. I’m telling you Boots and Bozy [Ennis], you’re not going to get a chance at nothing because he [Eddie Hearn] ain’t trying to pay,” said Norman Sr. “So, y’all need to do what Errol Spence did, say, ‘Give the man what he wants, even if you have to take it off of mine. Give that $500,000 over to the other end, and let us get that fight.’”
It’s unlikely that Boots Ennis will do what Spence did by sacrificing some of his purse to get this fight with Norman Jr. made. Ennis hasn’t made massive Canelo-like money yet, so he probably won’t be agreeable to giving up some of his purses to make the fight with Norman Jr. happen, even though it would benefit him in the long run, provided he wins.
Value Perception
“$500,000 off, that’s it, that wasn’t far,” said Norman Sr. about how much extra money they want Hearn to sweeten the $1.7 million offer he gave to bring it to $2.2 million. I never said we were miles away. Stop your bull, Eddie. You never started ‘North of $1 million;’ You Started at $750,000 [for the first offer to Norman Jr.]”
It sounds to some that Hearn doesn’t see much value in the Ennis-Norman Jr. fight because Norman Jr. is not well-known to casual boxing fans. Norman Jr. isn’t a household name, but he’s got the WBO title, and Ennis needs to work toward becoming the undisputed champion.
Moreover, the fight will attract more interest than a Boots vs. Karen Chukhadzhian rematch. Fans don’t want to see that fight, but Hearn said that’s the fight that he believes Boots should take on November 9th.
If this were Anthony Joshua wanting to become undisputed champion, it’s hard to believe that Hearn would give up on making the fight over $500K, like he’s doing with Boots Ennis. That tells you something.
Maybe Hearn isn’t that high on Ennis after recently signing him because he would be whistling a different tune if this were Joshua putting a fire under his backside, telling him to negotiate a unification fight. There’s no way on earth that Hearn would refuse to get the job done if his opponent wanted him to sweeten the deal by a mere $500,000.
“We said $2 million because I wanted my son to come home with $1.2 million,” said Norman Sr. “That’s what we needed in the end because I wanted my son to clear $1 million. ‘Well, North,’ and that sounds like if you keep adding a quarter of a million dollars, we should be at $2 million or somewhere close.
“We were not there. The actual number we are at today [from the fight being made] is $500,000 [to get it to $2.2 million]. That’s it, and it’s only so that my son can bring home $1 million [after tax deductions and Top Rank’s 25%]. The last interview [Hearn made], they said, ‘We’re miles away.’ Eddie is playing games. He said, ‘We’re close,’ and now they’re saying, ‘We’re miles away.’ I never said we’re miles away.”
It’s really telling that Hearn is ready to end the negotiations with Norman Jr. over a difference of $500,000. Boots Ennis will need to decide where to go from here. Does he agree to Hearn’s idea of fighting Karen in a rematch that will likely bring in poor ratings and make him look bad, or does he give up on the 147-lb division and move to 154?
Either way, it looks like Boots will experience nothing but bad things in the future. Deals will not get done over small amounts of money, and Boots will be stuck fighting low-level opposition, failing to gain traction and winding up like former Matchroom fighter Demetrius Andrade.
“We want this fight. I want my son to be well-compensated for going to enemy territory [Boots’ hometown of Philadelphia],” said Norman Sr. “He’s a young fighter; he has his own career, and he can build his own name. Boots wasn’t a world champion at 23.”
Norman Jr.’s Future: A Star in the Making?
Norman Jr. doesn’t need Boots Ennis for him to get nice paydays and become a star. Even if he takes small money for his fights in the next year or two, he’ll make more money, and by the time he’s Boots’ age, he’ll be a bigger star. Norman Jr. has a more exciting style than Boots and is far more entertaining to watch. With the ESPN platform and Top Rank’s help, Norman Jr. can become a PPV attraction quickly, as long as he keeps winning.
“If Eddie Hearn is serious about the fight, we’ll take the last offer he gave [$1.7 million] if he makes it in Vegas,” said Norman Sr. “You can’t bring people to enemy territory and then pay them nothing and then pay your fighter $5 million. We’re not slaves.”
Hearn isn’t going to agree to stage a fight between Boots and Norman Jr. in Las Vegas on neutral territory because there’s too much money to be made fighting in his hometown of Philadelphia, selling out the Wells Fargo Center. With Boots’ popularity in Philadelphia, he can sell out that arena, even against Karen; That’s the likely reason Hearn isn’t averse to making that fight.
Norman Sr. Demands Neutral Ground
“We understand who the King and queen [stuff] on their end, but we’re not their peasants,” said Norman Sr. “I don’t know what this [stuff] is about. $500,000 more [needed to complete deal], we’re still optimistic about this fight on November the 9th. The last offer was $1.7 [million]. Actually, Top Rank takes 25 [percent] off the top. I want my son to be at least well-compensated for going over to enemy territory [Philadelphia].”
Hearn seems ambivalent about making the Boots vs. Norman Jr. fight and doesn’t appear to attach much importance to helping Ennis accomplish his goal. It could be that Hearn secretly wants Boots Ennis to move up to 154 rather than invest time in low-level fights against the obscure champions at 147.
If that’s the real problem, it would explain why Hearn isn’t eager to part with the $500K that Norman Sr. wants to agree to the deal. Ideally, Hearn should be upfront with Boots by telling him he wants him to move up to 154 because 147 is a dead end and will slow his career growth.
“Breaking news from this. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will never be undisputed at 147 because he has a promoter that doesn’t want to play ball. If he wants to play ball, he needs to put this on neutral territory. Then we can talk some real numbers. Otherwise, you got to pay for us to come out there because I think 1 point whatever million is a low-end on even ground because of the fight it is. We’re ready,” said Norman Sr.
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