Speaking in an interview, trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis criticized the 147-lb champions for not agreeing to fight his son, IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, in a unification bout. Bozy wants Jaron to quickly capture the three titles he needs to become undisputed champion at 147 before moving to 154.
The champions don’t want to accept the money Ennis’ promoter is offering them for a dangerous fight they could lose. Bozy doesn’t look at the root cause of the fights not being made. It’s Ennis’ promoter.
So, instead of fighting a unification, Boots will defend against his IBF mandatory Karen Chukhadzhian in a rematch on November 9 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
“I think he’s tougher than Karen. He was dancing around,” Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis said Fight Hub TV when asked if WBC super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is tougher than Karen Chukhadzhian.
Ennis did a poor job cutting off the ring against Chukhadzhain last year and looked terrible throughout the contest. Unable to cut off the ring, Boots was swinging wildly and missing with his shots because he was loading up.
“We had to take it because it was mandatory. That’s the only thing I think about it. We really didn’t want the fight, but we had to take it because it was the mandatory one. I don’t like it, but we had to do it, but it’s going to be different this time,” Bozy said of how Boots Ennis was forced to take the fight with Karen Chukhadzhian because the IBF ordered it.
Boots could have vacated his IBF title and moved up to 154 rather than fight Chukhadzhian. His promoter could have gotten one of the other champions to fight him if he offered them enough money.
“We are not looking for knockouts. If it presents itself, we’re going to take it, but that’s what we’re going in there to do because people like to see a knockout, but we’re not going to look for it. If it presents itself, we’re going to take it,” Bozy said of Boots Ennis coming to knock out Chukhadzhian on November 9.
“Wake up, and let’s fight. Stop rambling around. You act like you want to fight, and then you don’t want to fight,” Bozy said of his message to the welterweight division. “This is my message to all the 147s who got the belts. I don’t know if it’s your people behind you or just you choosing who you want to fight.”
It’s not the other champions’ fault that the offers made to them by Boots Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, aren’t enough to get them to agree. They are not going to agree to fight Ennis for less than they feel the fight deserves. After all, the three champions can make more money in the long run by holding on to their titles rather than accepting what Hearn is offering.
“We thought he was coming to fight. He came to dance,” Bozy said. “I think Canelo has earned his way. He put in his time. That’s what I think. He can pick and choose who he wants to choose. They can talk about it all they want. He made all that money. So, he can do what he wants to do.
“That’s what we want to do after we take the belts off. After we get a chance to collect them because it’s hard for him to get fights,” Bozy said when asked if Ennis might want to move up to 154 because the 147-lb division is now quiet, and he’s struggling to the other champions to fight against him.”
At some point, Bozy will have to see the writing on the wall and understand that it’s going to take too many years of his son Boot’s career for him to collect all the belts at welterweight. What Bozy doesn’t need is Boots to be 35 years old and still trying to unify the welterweight division.
“Ultimately we’re going to move up to 154, and after that we move to 160 and maybe 168. We’re looking. The ones who got the title. Those are the ones I want,” Bozy said when asked who he wants Boots Ennis to fight after Chukhadzhian on November 9. “If we can’t get one of them, we’re probably going to move up.”
Ennis should move up now as it is clear that his promoter is not going to invest the money needed in his career to get the other three champions to agree to fight him. Some would argue that if Anthony Joshua was the prized gem of the Matchroom stable, promoter Eddie Hearn would cough up the two or three million to get the other champions to fight him. It would have already been done. But since it’s just Boots Ennis, Hearn is investing in his career by overpaying to get the other champions to fight him.
Boots Ennis will need to up his game if he is to have success at 154, 160 and 168, as he took a lot of punishment against David Avanesyan and Roiman Villa at 147.
It doesn’t sound feasible that Ennis will be able to make the jump to 154 to capture titles, especially if he uses up the best years of his career trying to become the undisputed welterweight champion. He’s about to turn 28, and he has no unification fights in sight.
If Ennis’ promoter Eddie Hearn refuses to meet the asking price of the other champions, he must understand that he will never get the unfixed fights he needs unless His Excellency Turki Alalshikh wants to help.
I don’t know why he would, but there’s always a possibility. This may be what the other welterweight champions are waiting for. They want the big money that Turki offered them to fight Boots, which is completely understandable on their part. Why would they agree to the $1.7 million that Hearn is offering them when they can get many more millions from Turki? Hearn’s offer is chicken feed compared to what Turki could possibly give them to fight Ennis and give up their titles.
“It was a beautiful fight. I let Bivol win,” Bozy said when asked if he watched last Saturday’s light heavyweight championship fight between champions Artur Beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol. “(Beterbiev) came in the end because Bivol was slower, but I let him win.
“I think they need to get back together, and I think it’s going to be a different situation this time because it seemed like he got winded in the last two rounds,” Bozy said of Bivol.
Bozy isn’t saying how he sees the rematch ending differently between undisputed light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev and Dmitri Bivol. It’s going to be hard for Bivol to improve on the amount of movement he did last Saturday night without giving away rounds due to a lack of offense. He will tire from all the movement he is doing and will be stopped by Beterbiev. It is interesting that Bozy had problems with Chukhadzhian’s constant movement, but was fine with Bivol doing the same.
“It’s another good fight,” Bozy said of the December 21st rematch between former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury and unified three-belt champion Oleksandr Usyk. “Usyk is a good boxer. He moves, and then you have Fury. He is a good boxer. If he is in good condition, I think it will be a different situation. I think Fury can win in the end.
“If he does win, it will be 1-1. So, they have to break the tie,” Bozy said.
Assuming Fury wins the rematch against WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight champion Usyk on December 21, the trilogy will likely have to wait until Tyson fights Anthony Joshua once or twice. His Excellency Turki Alalshikh wants to see Fury take on Joshua, and it is believed they will fight twice before moving on to other fights or retirement.
