Trainer ‘Bozy’ Ennis wants son Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to be given his rightful title shot against undisputed welterweight champion Terence Crawford.
It appears that Crawford is holding onto his four titles at welterweight for bargaining purposes to get a better deal when or if he faces Jermell Charlo, Canelo Alvarez, or Tim Tszyu
Most would agree Crawford will never return to the 147-lb division unless he can get a fight against Keith Thurman.
Boots (31-0, 28 KOs) is the IBF mandatory for the belt that Crawford captured last month with his victory over IBF/WBA/WBC welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr.
However, Crawford says he has no interest in fighting Boots Ennis, and wants to pursue lucrative fights against Jermell Charlo, Canelo Alvarez, and a rematch with Spence.
Crawford states that he’s earned the right to face whoever he pleases, which is fine except for the fact that he’s holding onto the IBF 147-lb title, and as a champion, he’s expected to defend against mandatory challenges, which in this case is Boots Ennis.
Crawford will need to vacate his IBF title, as well as all of his other welterweight belts, if he’s just going to keep them without making defenses.
“That s**t right there doesn’t even bother me because everybody they put in front of Boots, they were ranked up there. So is he trying to say that the guy he fought wasn’t nobody?” said Bozy Ennis to YSM Sports Media, reacting to being told that Tim Bradley said that Boots hadn’t fought any notable opposition.
Obviously, if the shoe was on the other foot and Boots Ennis was the guy with all the titles at 147, Tim Bradley would be insisting that Crawford be given a title shot.
What Bradley needs to discuss is whether he feels Crawford should be allowed to hold onto the welterweight titles if he’s not going to return to the 147-lb division to defend them. Why would Crawford need the titles if he’s not going to defend them?
These belts aren’t trophies that a fighter can hold onto for the remainder of their lives without ever defending, which is why Crawford needs to defend them, vacate them, or have them stripped from him.
“You can’t please everybody, and Timothy should know better than running his mouth like that,” said Bozy. “Before, when he was talking about Boots way before, now they changed it up when it comes to fighting Crawford now, and Crawford and Timothy are tight. So, you know he’s going to look out for Crawford.
“If you’re not ready after 31 fights, you’ll never be ready. Boots has been in with some of the best, even in sparring. They can’t tell me he isn’t ready. They don’t want him to be ready.
“They don’t want him to fight Terence. They know that’s the fight that everybody wants to see. They know it’s a chance. High risk, low reward, and I know what Boots can do. They don’t see the real Boots.
“They saw a little bit of the s**t in his last fight [Roiman Villa] when he last fought. Whoever he fights, Boots goes to another level. He didn’t go to that other level yet. He just did a little bit from his last fight.
“Then you’re going to see something because Terence will probably bring it out of Boots because Terence, you can’t take nothing away from him. He’s a hell of a fighter. I like those dudes. I like all the guys. Terence, Spence, all of them.
“They’re good fighters. You can’t take anything away from them, but we want our chance. That’s all. If you think you can beat us, let’s go at it. That’s what we’re in the game for. The best fighting the best, and I think my son is the best,” said Bozy.
