Hearn: Ennis Vs. Crawford Is “Best Fight In Boxing”

Promoter Eddie Hearn says a clash between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Terence Crawford is “the best fight in boxing.” After the way IBF welterweight champion Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) decimated the hapless WBA champ Eimantas Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs) in six rounds last Saturday night in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Hearn is right. Boots vs. Crawford is the “best fight” in the sport.

Getting Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) to agree to a fight against the young killer Boots Ennis will be next to impossible now that he’s being showered with money by Turki for a fight against Canelo Alvarez in September. Nebraska native Crawford’s purse for that fight is going to be gigantic. Whatever Terence makes for the Canelo fight, he’d want similar for a clash against Boots Ennis, which isn’t possible. It’s not the kind of fight that will draw casual fans.

Cash-Induced Blindness

After Bud gets a taste of that kind of cash fighting Alvarez, there’s no way on Earth that he’ll agree to a massive pay cut to fight Ennis. Crawford will be spoiled from the purse that he gets for fighting the Mexican star, and it’ll warp his mind, making him believe that he’s a draw.  He’s not. Without Canelo or Turki, Crawford can’t draw flies. His last event against Israil Madrimov brought in a lowly 150,000 buys on DAZN PPV, and that was with a loaded undercard.

“I know a lot of fighter’s names get mentioned, and I’m not going to tell you which ones, but honestly, he plays with so many of them. He plays with them, especially up at 154,” said Eddie Hearn to Ring Magazine, talking about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis being too good for the fighters at welterweight and junior middleweight.

Boots needs to move up to 154 because he’s at a dead-end fighting at 147. Even if he can get the fights he wants, who is he beating? No one besides hardcore boxing fans knew who Eimantas Stanionis was for last night’s fight.

Ennis received no attention from casual fans for this fight. They didn’t even notice the fight was happening. Of course, staging the fight on the same night as a UFC event was a blunder on the part of Boots’ promoter, Eddie Hearn. He should have moved it to another date.

To have any chance of fighting Crawford, Vergil Ortiz Jr., and the other better-known fighters, Boots must move up to 154. Forget about becoming undisputed and focus on what’s really important. Fans want to see Ennis fight opposition they’re familiar with, not lowly paper champions who were elevated to their positions at 147.

“Boots against Crawford is the best fight in boxing,” continued Hearn. “It’s an unbelievable fight, but he’s got Canelo. But as a fan, for me, you’ve got two of the best technicians in the sport [Boots and Bud Crawford].

“The thing about Ennis is he’s got incredible skills. He’s got a tremendous IQ. He’s got great footwork, but he’s also spiteful. When you look at fighters in the past that have great skills. They haven’t got devasting punching power. They’re not trying to force a stoppage. They’re not spiteful with it. He is. He’s 34 wins with 30 knockouts,” Hearn said about Ennis.

The Mega-Money Warp

Unless Turki takes an interest in a fight between Crawford and Boots, it’s NOT going to happen. Terence, 38, won’t want to mix it with Ennis because he has everything to lose in that fight and very little to gain besides money.

His mind will be fully warped after he fights Canelo, and he will think he can make gold bullion by the truckload for anybody he fights. I’ve never seen a fighter become so spoiled in such a short time. Crawford has lost perspective. I just wish Turki could bring him down to earth by offering him a trifle. Only then might we see Bud fight Ennis because he would have to.