Gabriel Rosado, the former two-time middleweight world title challenger, wants Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to wait a couple more fights before fighting Terence Crawford.
Rosado feels that by the 27-year-old IBF welterweight champion ‘Boots’ Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) developing more, he’d have a better chance of beating Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), who turns 37 in September and only fights once a year.
According to Rosado, Ennis was hit too much in his fight against David Avanesyan on July 13th in Philadelphia. Although Boots Ennis stopped Avanesyan in the fifth round, Rosado thought he showed vulnerability.
Crawford beat Avanesyan by a sixth-round knockout two years earlier in December 2022, but he played it safe, moving and clinching a lot in a less entertaining fight. Ennis could have fought the same way, making it boring for the fans, but that’s not his style.
That’s one of the reasons Ennis is becoming popular so quickly in his career compared to Crawford, who didn’t get much fame until he beat the faded Errol Spence Jr. in his 15th year in the pro ranks.
Ennis is a more aggressive, fan-friendly fighter than Crawford, who has a counter-puncher, is reactive, and is a boxer/puncher, and those guys don’t get as famous.
“Crawford is pound-for-pound at the top. I would like to see Boots keep building himself and maybe defend his title a couple of times,” said Gabriel Rosado to Fighthype about a potential match between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Terence Crawford.
“Maybe fight a style similar to Crawford to kind of get a better look and a better feel going into that fight,” said Rosado when asked who wins between Crawford and Ennis.
The problem with Rosado’s advice for Boots Ennis is that Crawford isn’t planning to stick around in the sport for much longer. He wants to pick up a title at 154 against WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd and then move up to 168 to get the mega-payday against Canelo Alvarez.
After that, Crawford will probably retire unless His Excellency Turki Alalshikh offers him a goldmine to fight someone else, perhaps Canelo again. Crawford isn’t going to want to fight a talent like Boots Ennis at 38 or 39 and get chopped apart like Avanesyan did.
“I think that’s the best look for him right now. Don’t rush it,” said Rosado about not wanting Ennis to fight Crawford. “Boxing is all about timing. That’s how it is when it comes to business. You don’t want to rush it.”
Rosado doesn’t realize that Crawford is at the end of his career and is just looking to feather his nest with a couple more paydays before retiring. He won’t wait for Boots Ennis to develop more before he hangs up his gloves.
He’ll probably lose to Madrimov on August 3rd and then either retire or fight Canelo if Turki still wants that celebrity-esque matchup to happen.
Crawford looked as old as the hills in his last fight against the shot to pieces, ring-rusty, weight-drained, car crash-wrecked Spence last year. He won only because Sppence is a shell of the fighter he was in 2018.
“With Boots, he’s got the skills and has got the ability, but he don’t got to rush it,” said Rosado with his play-it-safe type attitude. “He’s so young. He can get better and go into that Crawford fight 100%, where it’s more of an event match-up. To give himself a better chance.”
Ennis is 27 and is as good as he’s going to get at his age. He doesn’t need to wait until Crawford is ready for a convalescent home, eating pureed food before fighting him. He’s ready now if the opportunity is given to him. If Rosado had taken the time to watch Boots Ennis’ past fights, he would have seen that he can fight boring too, just like Crawford, but he chooses not to.
He wants to entertain and doesn’t want to use the clinching and moving that Crawford does. That style is why it’s taken until late in his career for Crawford to become popular. He’s never been entertaining to catch like Boots because fans don’t like watching movers, clinchers, and counterpunchers. That’s boring.
“Be strategic about it. It’s about timing,” said Rosado, wanting Ennis to wait until he’s more developed before fighting Crawford. “I think Crawford is a lot more seasoned, and Boots has all the talent in the world to be pound-for-pound.”
With Rosado’s attitude, Crawford will be long-retired before Ennis is fully developed enough to fight him. It’s good that Rosado isn’t in charge of Boots’ career because he would miss out on many good fights with his attitude.
“He’s got the skills and has got the power, but don’t rush it. Maybe one or two more fights, and then I’d like to see that fight,” said Rosado about the Crawford vs. Ennis clash.
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