By Robbie Bannatyne – 29/10/2024 – Commentary
The champs at 147 want big dough to face IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for Unification fights. Ennis is too dangerous, and the other champions don’t want to take less than big money for a fight they don’t think they can win.
Boot’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has shown no willingness to pay the champions the money they want. It costs money to set up these fights, and Boots (32-0, 29 KOs) has yet to become a PPV attraction. To lure these champions into taking a fight they know they can’t win will require Hearn to overpay, and he hasn’t shown the willingness to do that.
Unless Hearn is willing to start putting money into Ennis to make these fights happen to turn him into a star, he has to give up his dream of becoming an undisputed champion.
“When you get to the level where Jaron Ennis is, where he’s a world champion and a dangerous guy, opponents are going to be out there asking for a sack,” Chris Mannix told DAZN Boxing on X on the problems facing IBF 147-lb champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis on his difficulties getting unification fights against the other welterweight champions.
“That’s what happened with the Brian Norman situation. They wanted a pile of money if they would get in the ring with Boots. Same with Eimantas Stanionis. Same thing with Mario Barrios. These guys know Eddie Hearn needs to make big fights for his star fighter, and they’re going to demand that kind of cash accordingly.”
It’s not just that the champions know Hearn is needy. They obviously feel like they can’t win this fight, and they’re not just pointing to giving away their world titles for $1 million. You can’t beat champions like WBO belt holder Brian Norman Jr. blame that they want $2.2 million to face a talent like Ennis in his hometown of Philadelphia.
It’s not like the champions are asking a king’s ransom for a fight against Ennis. It is more a case of them feeling that they are better off holding on to their titles and waiting until His Excellency Turki Alalshikh looks their way to offer them massive cash to be on one of his Riyadh season cards fight.
Ennis makes a low-level defense against his IBF mandatory Karen Chukhadzhian next month in a rematch on November 9 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Hearn failed to negotiate a unification fight between Ennis and Norman, so Boots is stuck with the defense against Karen.
Last updated on 29/10/2024
