Boots Ennis predicts he will catch #1 pound-for-pound in 2 fights

Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis claims he will capture the #1 pound-for-pound spot in “one or two fights.” If that prediction comes true, he should have a win over Terence Crawford or some of the top 154 ​​pounders such as Bakhram Murtazaliev.

The fastest way for Ennis to capture the #1 spot would be to defeat Crawford, but since the Nebraska native has no interest in fighting him, he doesn’t have that option. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh could make that fight happen if he offered Crawford a lot of money, but it would probably be too expensive to make it worth pursuing.

Boots at a dead end

If Boots is going to quickly grab the #1 pound-for-pound spot, he will have to light a fire under his promoter Eddie Hearn’s back to match him against big enough names to get him there. Hearn won’t be able to help Boots by coming up with the dough needed for him to fight all the champions at 147.

The reality is that it will likely take Ennis three to five years to become #1 pound-for-pound given his dogged insistence on unifying the welterweight division before he moves up to 154 to start facing talented opposition.

Now, if Ennis was brave and willing to take risks with his career, he would have to immediately move up to 154 and fight these types of killers to grab the #1 P4P spot:

– Bakhram Murtazaliev
– Vergil Ortiz Jr.
– Sebastian Fundora
– Israel Madrimov
– Serhii Bohachuk
– Tim Tszyu
– Charles Conwell
– Erickson Lubin

Fear of failure holding Ennis back

Boots Ennis has to move up to 154 for his next two fights because the 147-lb division lacks talented fighters known to the boxing public. His belief that he must capture all the titles at welterweight is his biggest obstacle in moving to the 1 pound-for-pound spot. He will never achieve this by playing it safe, staying at 147, fighting lesser talents like Karen Chukhadzhian, David Avanesyan and Roiman Villa. One gets the sense that Ennis is very afraid of going up to 154, risking failure, and ending up just one of the many down-and-out contenders.

Even if Ennis were to capture the three remaining titles by champions Eimantas Stanionis, Brian Norman Jr. and beating Mario Barrios, there is no chance of him grabbing the #1 P4P spot because these are belt holders who have been maneuvered to win those titles by their promoters.

Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) turns his wheels at 147 and defends his IBF welterweight title against Karek Chukhadzhian in a rematch on November 9. Boots, 27, already beat Chukhadzhan by a wide 12-round unanimous decision in January last year, and fans have no interest in this fight.

“My main goal was to get these belts. I pushed hard to get these belts uncontested or at least unified. That was my goal. Those things fell out, and I had to fight my mandatory,” Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis told Ariel Helwani’s channell, talks about facing his disappointment Karen Chukhadzhian in a rematch on November 9.

Ennis’ meaningless goal of capturing all the 147-pound belts works against his desire to become #1 pound-for-pound because that’s not the path he needs to take to get there. Staying at 147 is pointless and will doom him to be just one of the many unpopular world titleholders.

“As long as I’m still fighting and staying busy, that’s the whole thing. Those belts are coming. I’m going to grab those belts next year,” Ennis said of the welterweight belts. “I had to fight my duty. This time I’m going to beat him easier and in a better way.

“It’s a blessing to have him on the map. He is a top-five pound-for-pound. I’m glad to have him on my card. Me and him together, we’re going to have fireworks,” Boots said of WBC super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez in his co-feature against Pedro Guevara.

The reason Hearn packaged Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez with Boots is obvious. Ennis’ fight against Chukhadzhian doesn’t interest the boxing public, and he doesn’t have the charisma to attract fans to watch him defend against lesser fighters.

Ennis needs to understand that Hearn’s decision to put Bam as his co-feature is a message that he doesn’t have the popularity to be on his own card without needing help. This may also be related to the reason why Hearn chose not to invest money in negotiating the unification fight for Boots against WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr.

Boots vows not to follow in selfish Crawford’s footsteps

“The card is going to be crazy. There are a lot of great up and coming fighters on the card. Hopefully it’s true. I’ve been asking them for fights,” Ennis said when asked if he believed he would get a chance to fight Terence Crawford. “You ask him. I’m tired of answering this question multiple times.

“When it’s my turn and I have to fight a young lion, I will definitely give him the opportunity. Eddie (Hearn) has a mouthpiece. He’s going to do all the talking for you. You don’t have to say anything. He’s going to say everything that’s going to be said.”

Crawford’s decision not to help younger fighters like Boots Ennis, Murtazaliev and Bohachuk could be interpreted as a selfish attitude. He doesn’t want to be used to build the sport’s next stars. Greats like Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Muhammad Ali were willing to face the young lions when they got old, but so far Crawford is unwilling to do the same thing.

“All you have to do is sit back and fight and do what you have to do. It’s winning,” Ennis said of his promoter Eddie Hearn doing all the work marketing his fights by doing all the talking.

Ennis doesn’t understand that he needs to help promote his career because Hearn can only do a superficial job of attracting interest in his career through his interviews. If you look at Hearn’s interviews, he doesn’t say much about Ennis compared to his other fighters, like Anthony Joshua, who is his #1 money maker.

“One or two fights,” Boots Ennis said when asked how long before he claims the #1 pound-for-pound spot. “I’m right there. I just need that one name, that’s all.”