Trainer Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis says IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr has 120 days to defend against his mandatory Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis after his next fight.
Spence doesn’t seem excited about fighting Boots Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs), which could mean he will give up his IBF belt to swerve the young lion.
According to Bozy, IBF/WBA/WBC 147-lb champion Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) is supposed to defend against his WBC mandatory Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman next. Spence will likely continue to ignore Thurman because he’s still bitter about being skipped over by him earlier in his career.
Spence has already ruled out fighting WBO champion Terence Crawford next, so that leaves Thurman if he wants to hold onto his WBC belt.
At this point, Spence may not care if he’s forced to give up one of his belts because he’s planning on going up to 154 soon anyway.
Boots Ennis is fighting Karen Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KOs) in a 12 round bout for the interim IBF welterweight title next month on January 7th on the undercard of Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Hector Luis Garcia on Showtime PPV at the Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C.
“It’s for the IBF interim, which we’re already ranked #1 for Spence’s title,” said Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis to YSM Sports Media about Boots Ennis’ upcoming fight against Karen Chukhadzhian on January 7th.
“So that’s like cutting it in half. When I spoke to Darryl Peoples [of the IBF], he said he didn’t want to split it up like that, but he had to because they already made their minds up at the WBC convention that Spence was supposed to be fighting Keith Thurman.
“They already put that in before we said anything to them about it. We shouldn’t have said anything to him about it because we were #1. He should have followed through with that, but I guess they beat him to the punch.
“After this, Spence, whoever he fight, he has 120 days to fight Boots or give his IBF title up,” said Bozy Ennis.
“Yes, sir,” said Ennis when told that Spence vs. Terence Crawford has to happen quick.
It would be nice if Spence were to fight the 25-year-old Ennis because, on paper, that’s a better fight than Errol facing the 35-year-old counter-punching southpaw Crawford.
Boots has more power than Crawford, and his style is a lot more entertaining to watch. He’s not just trying to counter punch and change stances like Crawford.