IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) will make a mandatory defense of his belt against Cody Crowley (22-0, 9 KOs) next in June or July in Philadelphia.
Promoter Eddie Hearn revealed today in an interview that the 26-year-old Boots Ennis, who just signed a multi-fight deal with his Matchroom Boxing company, will get his mandatory defense out of the way against the 31-year-old Canadian Crowley in the summer.
Philly ‘Warm Up’ for the Inevitable KO
This is a necessary thing that Boots has got to get out of the way before he can move on to bigger and better things, which involves him trying to unify the welterweight division by fighting Eimantas Stanionis and Mario Barrios.
Crowley is a decent opponent for Boots Ennis to use for his homecoming to Philadelphia this summer. If it were a bigger name, Ennis would likely be fighting in Las Vegas to take advantage of the attention that he would receive.
But since Crowley is an obscure guy about as recognizable as a kangaroo wearing a hat, he’s a good option for Ennis to use as his opponent for his homecoming. This fight will likely be over quickly, with Boots blowing the light, hitting Crowley out of the water, and then celebrating.
Eyes on Undisputed: Hearn’s Plan for ‘Boots’
After Boots Ennis takes care of his IBF mandatory, Hearn will try and put together fights against Eimantas Stanionis [WBA champion] and Mario Barrios [WBC interim champ] at 147.
There is no guarantee that Hearn will have any luck putting either of those fights together, and there’s a good chance he won’t get either guy to agree to fight the walking guillotine, Boots.
If Hearn can’t set up fights with any of the other champions for Ennis, they’ll need to decide whether to stay at welterweight and fight any random opponent or move up to 154 and go after the old lion, Terence Crawford. That’s the fight that Hearn wants to put together, and he’s confident that Ennis will defeat Crawford.
Hearn will need to offer Crawford a lot of money to make that happen because he expects to be paid eight figures for his fights now, which some believe is why he’s been inactive. He’s not getting anyone offering him that kind of money, so he’s just sitting, waiting for the dough to drop from the sky like rain.
