His Excellency Turki Alalshikh wants the fight U.S fans have been calling for between the young lion, Jaron’Boots’ Ennis, and Terence Crawford in 2024.
Boots: Crawford’s Kryptonite
Alalshikh is going to try to make the fight, but it’ll depend on whether he can negotiate with Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), who may drive a hard bargain, given that he’s not exactly been excited about fighting the young killer, Boots Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs).
Boots is someone who can put a screeching halt to the 36-year-old Crawford’s 15 minutes of fame, which he’s been enjoying since his best career win against Errol Spence Jr. last July.
A loss to the 26-year-old Boots will erase any shot that Crawford has of fighting Canelo Alvarez. His Excellency Alalshikh reportedly said today that Canelo vs. Crawford is one of three big fights he wants to make.
That can’t happen if Boots Ennis defeats Crawford, which is why it won’t be easy for Alalshikh to negotiate with the Nebraska native. He knows what’s at stake going up against a young talent like Boots, who might expose Crawford as never being as good as fans originally thought he was.
The Madrimov Hurdle
A big problem that could prevent the Crawford-Boots fight is Crawford’s title challenge of WBA junior middleweight champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd in Los Angeles. Alalshikh is reportedly putting together the Crawford vs. Madrimov fight for his August 3rd card in the U.S.
Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs) is a big puncher with both hands and considerably younger than Crawford at 29. That’s a fight that Crawford could lose or get the living daylights beaten out of him. The battering Terence takes against Madrimov is going to leave him a depleted fighter, reducing him to a plate of food for Boots Ennis.
As Crawford is, he can be hit, and it’ll be bad for him if he’s forced to go the distance against Madrimov because he’s going to get hit a lot by shots that will age him. So, even if Crawford does win, he’s not going to be at his best when he enters the ring against Boots Ennis.
That might be another reason why His Excellency may find it impossible to negotiate a deal for a fight between Crawford and Boots. Terence knows what he’d be dealing with fighting Boots, and he’s not going to want to mess up that bag that he’ll get from a Canelo fight, especially if he’s coming off the most difficult fight of his career against Madrimov.