Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ coach, Greg Hackett, understands why Terence Crawford doesn’t want to fight Boots at this late stage of his 16-year professional career. He feels that boxing doesn’t care about fighters, and Crawford isn’t going to willingly put his neck on the guillotine to face the young, undefeated phenom Boots Ennis (32-0, 29 LOs) to get it chopped off.
Hackett believes Ennis would beat the four-division world champion Crawford (41-0, 31 KO) and would knock him out. Crawford’s age would put him at the mercy of the rising star Boots.
Why Crawford Loses to Boots
- Crawford’s Age: With the 27-year-old Boots Ennis being 10 years younger than the 37-year-old Crawford, Hackett believes this will play a big factor in why he’ll defeat him. Crawford is like an old car that has a lot of hard street miles. He’s all scratched up and weather-worn, and the engine is putting out blue smoke. In contrast, Ennis has rolled off the lot and is in mint condition.
- Too focused on defense: As we saw in Crawford’s last fight against Israil Madrimov. His work rate is low due to his focus on his defense, and that’ll give the more aggressive, bolder, and busier Ennis to outwork him to win a decision. Crawford has always had a low work rate due to his emphasis on his defense. He’s gotten away with that style because he never fought great talents at 135, 140, or 147. Going up against Boots, Crawford would be forced to either increase his output or suffer a one-sided loss. Given that he’s an older fight, he couldn’t change. As the saying goes, ‘Old dogs can’t learn new tricks,’ which fits perfectly here.
- Boots’ Harder Working: Ennis’s blue-collar mentality about his fight, pushing himself to work nonstop, would be too much for Crawford, who has a minimalist fighting style.
“I understand it. Do I want to see that fight? Yes, I want to see that fight, but I understand Bud’s point of view only because I know how boxing don’t care about you,” said coach Greg Hackett to Fighthype about Terence Crawford’s lack of interest in fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Some fans view Crawford as selfish for refusing to face Boots so that he could vanquish him, take his pelt, and become the next massive PPV star in boxing. Fighters in the past have been more giving by agreeing to face young lions, trying their best, and coming up short. For Crawford to be withholding this right of passage is seen as selfishness, especially given that he only has one name in his entire resume: Errol Spence.
“In the next five years, we’re going to be talking about a list of other guys. Look at Tim Tszyu. You talk about two of the best,” said Hackett about a fight between Crawford and Ennis. “They both have qualities that you need to be a great fighter, and they have multiple qualities that you need to be a great fighter.
“The only real difference is one of them [Crawford] is ten years older than the other. That’s the part that is going to be the main thing. Will Bud feel like it in certain spots? Where Boots will be working, Bud will sometimes be on defense. Sometimes, he’ll be firing back, but it won’t be enough to get a win. I think the first time Boots by decision and the second time, he’ll stop Crawford,” said Hackett.
Ennis is busier and far more aggressive than Crawford was during his career. This has nothing to do with Crawford’s age. He’s always had a low work rate and been a mover-type fighter.
It’s believed that Shakur Stevenson used Crawford’s fighting style as a blueprint for his own. That style doesn’t work against busier fighters like Boots, who would ground Crawford with spearing body shots, forcing him to stand and fight tooth and nail.
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