Trainer Stephen Edwards says the fighters now want to face Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis because they saw what Karen Chukhadzhian did to him in their two fights and feel they can exploit the holes in his game.
Chukhadzhian exposed boots
Stephen thinks Boots (33-0, 29 KOs) is “too bloodthirsty” because he is always looking for knockouts, which makes him vulnerable in his fights. We saw this in Ennis’ two fights against Chukhadzhian, David Avanesyan, and Roiman Villa. He was below average in those fights and took a lot of hits.
Edwards feels that if Boots can change his fighting style to implement more boxing, he will be okay. However, he is trained by his father, Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis, and he is known for pushing his fighters to be more aggressive, going on the attack, looking for the scoring knockouts.
Bozy Ennis is unlikely to change his son’s fighting style to be less aggressive, as that is not the approach he is taught. We saw how Bozy pushed 2020 Olympic gold medalist Andy Cruz to be more aggressive in his last fight against Antonio Moran, and he was confused early.
If Cruz had just used his normal smooth fighting style, he would have outclassed Moran without this man laying a glove on him, but he was pushed to push the bigger fighter.
“Teofimo Lopez is a special talent, but I don’t know how he will look at 147 pounds. He’s pretty short (5’8″),” coach Stephen Edwards said YSM Sports Media when he was asked how Teofimo Lopez would fare if he were to move up to welterweight to face the lions in that weight class.
“He is quite warm and cool. I thought he struggled against Jamaine Ortiz and the other guy (Sandor Martin?), and then he looked good against Josh Taylor. So, it’s hard to say with a guy like that. I think he’s going to do well under (coach) Eddy Reynoso kind of do well with guys with his body type.
“He did well with Oscar Valdez and did great with Canelo Alvarez. So, I expect him to do well with Eddy Reynoso. I think he (Teofimo) can possibly beat (WBC welterweight champion Mario) Barrios. I like Barrios. It’s nothing personal against him, but he’s had some tough fights. He’s probably not as physically talented as the other guys.”
Teofimo At welterweight
Size is not the issue Teofimo would have if he moved up and fought welterweights. It’s more a case of Teofimo lacking a ring IQ, not handling pressure well and having a bad habit of fighting with his back against the ropes. He mostly got away with his poor ring IQ due to his size at 140 and 135. But if he moved to 147, he wouldn’t have his size to help him, and he would be food for almost any of the welterweights .
“So, I think Teofimo can beat Barrios, but I don’t know what he would do against the other guys,” says Stephen. “There was talk of him fighting Brian Norman, but I’m not sure what would happen, but I was looking forward to that fight. It would have been a good fight.
“I think Boots is too big for Teofimo Lopez. The Jamaine Ortiz fight. If Boots just boxed him and used his jab, he would be too big for him. I think the guys want to fight Boots now because of the two decisions with Karen (Chukhadzhian). He fights with a kind of bloodthirsty style, tries to knock everybody out, and they see some holes in it,” Stephen said of Ennis.
Boots would have too much ability for Teofimo if they were to fight, and it wouldn’t be a good matchup for Teo. That’s not to say he wouldn’t have his moments and possibly win. He would do well at times, but it would be a very hard battle for him.
“In boxing they see a mistake. All a fighter has to do is fight a fight, and everyone wants to fight them. I feel like those things can be fixed if he just gets back to his box. I think Teofimo is a bit too small for Boots,” said Stephen.
