Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis has many options available to him at 154 for important fights that will increase his popularity. He hasn’t said whether he’ll stay at 147 or move up, but it’s believed that he will listen to his promoter and stay at welterweight to round up all the belts.
Some fans believe Ennis, 27, is chicken and afraid to move up to 154 for fear of getting beaten by Crawford or some of the other killers in the division.
What Ennis should do is move up to 154 and target these fighters:
Terence Crawford
Sebastian Fundora
Errol Spence
Tim Tszyu
Vergil Ortiz Jr
Israil Madrimov
Serhii Bohachuk
Erickson Lubin
At least seven of them would clean the house if they moved down to 147 and took on the three remaining belt-holders, Eimantas Stanionis, Mario Barrios, and Brian Norman Jr.
Welterweight Stagnation
It’s a weak bunch with those titles, so Ennis doesn’t gain much in staying at 147 to unify. Boots Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, wants him to stay at welterweight, believing he’ll accomplish something of value by becoming an undisputed champion.
I don’t see it this way. It’s a waste of time because the three guys that Boots will fight to capture those belts aren’t popular and not well-known to casual boxing fans. They’ve never heard of Stanionis, Barrios and Norman Jr.
“You saw with his ability to switch seamlessly with the combinations. The way he stepped to Avanesyan, took his power, took it on the chin, didn’t fear it at all, and kept working. The kid is brilliant,” said Tim Bradley to Probox TV about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“That’s the reason why nobody wants to fight Boots Ennis because they see exactly what I see. He’s a problem for anybody in the division, and that’s why everyone continued to run from him.”
Crawford’s Fear
Crawford has already said he doesn’t want to fight Boots Ennis. Still, he’s using the excuse of wanting to get a payday and build his legacy fighting Canelo Alvarez at super middleweight. However, if money is what drives Crawford’s engine, why is he fighting Madrimov?
The money Crawford will get fighting him is nowhere near what a fight against Boots Ennis would generate. It looks like flat-out fear on Crawford’s part, with him cherry-picking Madrimov while avoiding Boots.
Crawford is old at 37, so you can give him a break and let him be selective based on having earned the right. It’s kind of like what Canelo is doing late in his career.
“I saw a willingness to go for the finish and to have that killer instinct,” said boxing expert Paulie Malignaggi about Boots Ennis. “A guy like Crawford knows how to control range a little bit. I saw a lack of creativity in the way Jaron closes range. A guy that makes you work to close range, you have to be a little more creative. But it also might be because Jaron didn’t have to work to close range.”
Ennis understands that if he had boxed Avaneysan and played it safe, fans would have criticized him for being boring, and his popularity wouldn’t have gone up. So, he was willing to put himself in harm’s way to be entertaining.
“Avanesyan is right there. You just walk right up to him and start throwing combinations and can be in the pocket,” said Malignaggi.
Ennis had no choice but to slug with Avanesyan because he was walking straight to him, and he’s not a runner. Boots doesn’t use all the tricks that we saw Crawford use during most of his career, such as moving around the ring, throwing a lot of jabs, and doing a lot of the same stuff Shakur Stevenson does on defense.
This is a different era now, and fighters can’t afford to perform like that without it hurting their marketability. Crawford fought that way, but it slowed his career growth. He didn’t become popular until last year against Spence.
“Personally, I’d like to see him unify at 147. It’s an open division. I see him defeating all the other champions and being able to unify that division,” said Chris Algieri about Ennis. “He’d been out of the ring for a year. He needs to be busy. He now has a promotional arm in Matchroom that can keep him busy.”
Algieri’s Conservative Approach
Algieri’s ultra-conservative approach that he wants Boots Ennis to follow would be poison for his career, and he would be wasting his time if he followed that path. Again, the three champions holding welterweight titles are complete unknowns to casual boxing fans.
If they don’t know who those guys are, Boots gains nothing fighting them. Hardcore fans would be happy, but Ennis would stall his career and have nothing to show for the time and effort invested in this.
Who should @JaronEnnis fight next?! 💥 pic.twitter.com/36ac39uFbM
— DAZN Boxing (@DAZNBoxing) July 24, 2024
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