Conor Benn says no one knows who IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is in England because he doesn’t have a “personality”.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)
Highly rated undefeated Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) states that he does not look at Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) when “big names” are mentioned because he is well known in the UK.
Ennis’ lack of charisma
Benn, 28, does rate Boots as an outstanding fighter at 147, second only to Terence Crawford, but his lack of charisma and personality makes him unfit to fight.
He is unwanted. Jaron’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, obviously did heavy burden trying to promote the Philadelphia native with his bland, flat, uninspiring personality. Hearn can’t do it alone. He needs to build his brand, but it doesn’t happen.
Ennis doesn’t seem to realize that boxing is the entertainment business, and you have to be able to keep people interested outside the ring. Look at Tyson Fury. He’s not much of a talent and has a barren resume, but he’s made an absolute fortune because of his clown personality.
Boots has for himself; otherwise, he’s not worth Hearn keeping him on his Matchroom team. Eddie is great at picking up fighters, but he can’t do that if they’re only in the body during the promotion of their fights.
Ennis is not doing the public relations (PR) work he should be doing outside the ring, conducting interviews, posting on social media and creating characters. He needs a gimmick to sell himself to the public, but nothing is being done to create one.
Jaron’s missed opportunity
Boots recently turned down a massive fight offer to move up to 154 to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. to challenge for his WBC interim title at His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season event on February 22. This is the worst possible career move Ennis could take.
“Who knows who Boots is? I walked around Philly and Miami. Everyone is familiar with the Benn name in the states. Ennis is coming to England, nobody knows who he is,” Conor Benn told Fight Hub TV, revealing why he is not interested in fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“When you say ‘big names’, I don’t look at him. I look at Pacquiao, Broner, Kell Brook and Khan, people who have invested in personalities. There’s not much of that (With Boots),” Benn said.
Conor is ranked #2 WBA, #2 WBC, #4 IBF and #7 WBO at welterweight. Benn says he expects to challenge WBC 147-lb champion Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 15 KOs) in February 2025. This is a winning battle for Benn.
If he can get his hands on the WBC belt, there is a lot of money to be made in title defenses against the old timers, Manny Pacquiao, Adrien Broner, Amir Khan and Kell Brook. These are fights that will sell in the UK, and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh may be interested in staging some of them in Riyadh.
Barrios is coming off a 12-round draw against Abel Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs) on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
