Mickey Bey anticipates a potential clash between Terence Crawford and Jaron Ennis facilitated by Ennis’ Matchroom Boxing deal.

A bout between Terence Crawford and Jaron “Boots” Ennis, according to former champion Mickey Bey, might occur within a year. Bey believes that the recent signing of IBF welterweight champion Boots Ennis with Matchroom Boxing promoter Eddie Hearn will aid in bringing former three-division world champion Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) into the picture.

Even if he currently has no options that will guarantee him a sizable payoff, Crawford, 36, is a money-focused fighter in the latter stages of his career and doesn’t see any reason to take a risky bout against the undefeated phenom Boots (31-0, 28 KOs) unless he can make a lot of money.

“I think him being with Matchroom and being busy, I think in a year it might make sense, even for Crawford because Boots could end up fighting two or three times at least,” said Mickey Bey in media reports.

By winning the next three titles and claiming the title of indisputable champion, Boots, 26, hopes to bring the 147-pound weight class together. He might be able to accomplish that aim in a year with Hearn’s assistance.

Even if Boots does manage to accomplish that, it won’t be worth the more than a year he will spend attempting to get noticed by the casual fans. Additionally, Boots Ennis won’t be facing any well-known boxers in his quest to become the ultimate champion.

It would be more beneficial for him to concentrate on attempting to arrange fights with Crawford, Conor Benn, and Devin Haney—assuming the latter has the guts to take him on. I don’t believe Haney wants to ever fight Boots Ennis. He and his father, Bill, are extremely selective about who they fight, and because Devin is nearly as big as him, it is clear that they evaluated Boots and thought he was beyond their level of skill rather than size.

“I think it would happen at the very end of Crawford’s career. I think Eddie [Hearn] can make it happen. Maybe he can get Crawford at that weight [154] or maybe not,” said Bey on a possible battle between Boots Ennis and Crawford at 154.

It’s reasonable, to state that Crawford, 36, is still in a holding pattern, awaiting word from Canelo Alvarez on whether or not to pursue him. Crawford will be open to a bout with Boots Ennis once he sees that it’s not happening.

Enough with the Jaron Ennis talk. Brian “Bomac” McIntyre has grown both tired of hearing his name and vexed when prognosticators spew that he’s done enough to earn a fight with Terence Crawford.

From a skill standpoint, maybe he has. But in terms of his accomplishments and name value, fighting Ennis simply isn’t worth it.

“He don’t bring nothing to the table,” Bomac told a group of reporters when asked if Crawford would be willing to fight Ennis next. “He got our leftovers.”

By and large, Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) is irrelevant according to Bomac. He did recently win his first world title but the longtime trainer has a hard time respecting how things played out. Just a few months after Crawford issued a one-sided beating to Errol Spence Jr. to become an undisputed champion, the IBF sanctioning body stripped Crawford and elevated Ennis.

Their reasoning was tenuous according to team Crawford but they’ve come to reluctantly accept their decision.

Although Ennis has been chastised and clowned for what many consider an “E-mail” champion, he’s attempting to use his newly gifted title to his advantage. To a certain extent, Ennis now has something Crawford wants. So, if he wants to regain his undisputed status, he’ll only be able to do so by fighting Ennis.

Bomac, however, doesn’t want to hear it. Ennis and his supporters are bombastically bloviating about a fight that simply won’t happen. From their point of view, taking on Ennis is a lose-lose situation. He won’t deliver Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) with life-changing money, nor will he place an addendum on his Hall of Fame resume.

For now, Crawford is hoping that he can line up a fight with Canelo Alvarez. Doing so would provide him with everything he needs before walking away from the sport. With Alvarez firmly on their mind, Bomac has a question for the boxing world.

“Why would Bud wanna go backward? Bud is looking for bigger and better fights so he can etch his name in the concrete forever.”

The last thing Jaron Ennis wanted was to be gifted a world title. However, once the IBF stripped Terence Crawford of their belt, Ennis was gifted, or in other words, handed, their crown.

It was a bittersweet moment. On one end, Ennis achieved a lifelong dream of becoming an official champion. On the other hand, hearing his peers and fans call him a fraud and email champion has left a sour taste in his mouth.

There isn’t much Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) can do. He now finds himself in a position of power but he also feels somewhat helpless. No matter how many superlatives are thrown in his direction, he knows that he can’t force anyone to jump in the ring with him. There’s only one way that Ennis’ name can protrude toward the top of everyone’s hit list…actually, there’s two.

“I just gotta keep winning and keep making noise,” Ennis told YSM Sports Media during a recent interview. “Keep stepping on these guys. They gotta see me.”

Keith Thurman is a name that Ennis would love to get his hands on. The same goes for Mario Barrios and Errol Spence Jr. Ennis’ next move is an open-ended question but he’s already painted a red bullseye on the back of Crawford.

Since having his belt forcefully taken away from him, Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) has shrugged off the IBF’s ruling and continued to go about his business. Seeing that he already aggregated all of the major welterweight hardware back in July, he views their decision as annoying but innocuous.

Whether he’s an undisputed champion or not, Crawford believes that he’s the best fighter on the planet. Ennis though, with the IBF title draped over his shoulder, wants him to prove it.

“Come get your belt back if you think you’re the best in the world.”

It’s the fireworks waiting for the punk. Terence Crawford and Jaron Ennis seem to have commenced a slanging match. The former made history this year as he became the first man to be crowned a two-division undisputed champion. The latter had successfully defended his IBF (interim) Welterweight title in July. But tribulations were ahead for Crawford, tied up by the commitment to oblige a rematch with Errol Spence Jr.

Ring of X: Jarron Ennis vs. Terence Crawford

Yesterday evening, Terence Crawford wrote that it was great that everyone he knew had taken a sudden interest in Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. As much as he was happy with the new developments, he requested everyone not to get too worked up about him dodging the Philadelphian. Later, he clarified that Ennis could have fought him twice. However, instead of taking those chances, he decided to pursue other prospects. Hence, Crawford exhorted everyone to just relax and give the young boxer a chance to make his mark on the sport.

But a couple of hours later, Jaron Ennis replied. He explained that there were occasions when Terence Crawford could have chosen him for the next fight. However, that never happened. Incidentally, even now, they could square up. But the fact remains that ‘Bud’ doesn’t want to fight him. Instead, he opted for an easy route. Let the IBF take away his belt instead of Ennis grabbing it away during their bout.

It’s not that the social media bickering between Crawford and Ennis is something new. The two have had disagreements before and after the former became the undisputed champion.

A History of Claims and Denials

A few months ago, ‘Bud’ was talking to Gillie Da Kid and Wallo on their podcast, ‘Million Dollaz Worth of Game.‘ The discussion eventually landed on a fight with Jaron Ennis. Just to settle the matter, Gillie Da Kid even got what appeared to be Jaron Ennis’s father, Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis, on the call. The famed trainer said, “Listen…been the a** to fight you a long time ago.” Derek Ennis emphasized that, instead of David Avanesyan, he could have taken up their challenge. However, when he said that he wanted a fight with Crawford a long time ago, the latter replied, “If y’all wanted to fight me a long time ago, why am I just now hearing about this?”

Later, after he became the undisputed Welterweight champion, Terence Crawford spoke about his future options on another podcast. ‘The Breakfast Club‘s host asked him whether he would go against Jaron Ennis. Crawford replied that fighting the Philadelphian was kind of a ‘loose-loose’ deal for him. Supposing that he wins, then everyone would comment that he fought a much younger boxer, barely ready for such a big fight. Hence, beyond a certain limit, any fight between him and Ennis would have barely aggregated any hype.

Do you think after the tentative rematch with Spence Jr., Crawford and Ennis should slug it out to settle the matters for good? Please share your views with us in the comments below.

Jaron Ennis isn’t the type of fighter that will turn down a fight. If a name is presented to him, he’ll simply ask for a fight date, then proceed to sign his name on the dotted line. The same, however, can’t be said for his peers.

Finding a willing opponent has been arduous as of late. With the 26-year-old giving countless fighters a dirt nap, the rest of the welterweight division has taken notice. And, unless team Ennis hands over a large sum of cash, some have been reluctant about jumping in the ring with him.

Taking on nondescript opponents wasn’t his first choice but Ennis knows that ring rust is very much a real thing. 2023 has been much of the same. The smooth switch-hitter started off by pitching a shutout against Karen Chukhadzhian. A few months later, he ruthlessly destroyed Roiman Villa.

Neither were popular but it allowed Ennis to bank a few rounds and more importantly, an interim title.

That red and gold trinket sat perfectly on his mantle but Ennis didn’t view it solely as some great achievement. Instead, he considered it a bargaining chip, something that would force the hand of Terence Crawford, the division’s now former, undisputed champion.

Crawford though, shrugged his shoulders and apathetically went in another direction, leading to him being stripped. Ennis, subsequently, was elevated to full champion.

It wasn’t how Ennis envisioned his first title reign, but he’ll take what he can get. Now, he believes he’s in a position of power. No longer is he willing to be docile in the negotiating room. Promoters and managers beware, if a fighter under your umbrella doesn’t bring some sort of name value to the table, Ennis will most likely ignore you.

“I wanna fight the best,” Ennis told YSM Sports Media. “I don’t wanna fight no mediocre competition. I wanna fight great guys, people with names.”

“Definitely.”

With a stunning victory against Errol Spence Jr. in July this year, Terence Crawford, who was the WBO title holder before the match, became the undisputed welterweight champion as he won the remaining three titles. Following this match, while fans praised Crawford’s skills, several people urged Spence Jr. to hang his gloves given the punishment he took. However, Spence Jr. exercised the rematch clause their contract contained.

Failing to negotiate with Jaron Ennis, Terence Crawford is stripped of IBF welterweight title

According to a spokesperson, “On August 25, the IBF sent a letter to TBC Promotions directing Terence Crawford to begin negotiations with interim Champion Jaron Ennis. Negotiations were to be concluded by September 24.

On September 22, the IBF received an email from Harrison Whitman representing Crawford indicating that the agreement for the Spence v. Crawford bout contains an immediate rematch provision which Errol Spence has exercised. As such, Terrence Crawford is unable to engage in negotiations with Jaron Ennis.