Brian Norman Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs) put in a stone-cold killer performance, crushing Jin Sasaki (19-2-1, 17 KOs) in five rounds in a successful title defense of his WBO welterweight title, then humiliated Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis by telling the fans that he’d “run” from the division rather than face him.
Norman Jr. left Sasaki in a pile of broken flesh in the fifth round after knocking him out cold with a perfectly placed left hook to the head on Thursday night at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. Sasaki looked completely out, and reportedly was taken out of the ring on a stretcher.
Note: Top Rank vice president Carl Moretti said this on the challenger’s condition: “Sasaki was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons, was released and is back at the hotel.”
Jaron Ennis Accused of Cowardice
Norman Jr. scolded Boots Ennis during the post-fight interview without mentioning his name, choosing to use his nickname to embarrass him for leaving the 147-lb division without fighting him. Yesterday, Boots told his followers on X that he’s moving up to 154. His promoter, Eddie Hearn, said that he was having problems getting down to 147 and that he was only 50% for his last fight.
“About my future, I wish I had a certain fight coming up, but they heard the storm coming. You know what happens when the storm is coming. You grab your boots and run,” said Brian Norman Jr., in the post-fight interview, slamming Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis for leaving the 147-lb division after his victory over Jin Sasaki on Thursday night.
It does look bad on Ennis’ part that after telling fans how he wanted to become undisputed champion at 147, he left the weight class rather than stay around to fight the dangerous Brian Norman Jr. There’s no other way of looking at it other than Ennis chickened out. He didn’t want to get the Sasaki treatment from Norman Jr., so he went to 154, where it’s safe.
