Boots Ennis: Is 154 the only path to a world title?

Coach Stephen Edwards says Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis isn’t running away from anyone. He believes it’s stuff “that goes on behind the scenes, and his promoters are trying to figure out what they can get for him at 147.

(Credits: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)

IBF welterweight champion Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) isn’t helping himself by turning down fights against interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Teofimo López. They would have been huge for Boots.

Boots could have fought Vergil on the Turki Al-Shiekh card on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, and it would have been a huge payday for him. Fans believe that Ennis sidestepped Vergil Jr and didn’t want to risk the match for fear of being defeated.

Boots’ decision not to fight Vergil Jr. it comes at a bad time for him. She just had a terrible performance against Karen Chukhadzhian in their rematch on November 9, and some believe her confidence is gone.

The Duck Debate

“There are fighters who hide behind their management to not fight fighters, but I don’t think that applies to him,” Stephen Edwards told YSM Sports Media on his belief that Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis doesn’t run away from boys.

“I don’t think he’s letting anybody down. I think there’s a lot going on behind the scenes behind the scenes, and they’re just trying to figure out who they can get in the ring, and he knows his days are numbered at 147,” Stephen continued about ” boots”.

“I don’t think he’s saying, ‘I’m afraid to fight this guy.’ I think there’s a lot of business-wise that’s not going too well for him. He’s got a lot going on. His team just has to put these guys in the ring,” Edwards said.

Boots, obviously no one escapes at 147 because there is no one talented enough to want to avoid them. But it sure looks like he dodged interim WBC Junior Middleweight Champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. when he was recently offered this fight. Ennis said he wanted to stay at 147 to unify, but his situation there is not promising.

Ennis reportedly turned down a higher payday to fight Vergil Jr. for the Feb. 22 race, which seems bad on his part.

Defense of Edwards

“If he gets a unification against Brian Norman or a fight against Mario Barrios. Every time I see Conor Benn they keep talking about Barris. So, I know there’s some kind of conflict when you have a guy that’s in your promotional stable and a guy (Benn) is trying to wrestle.

“That’s got to be tough on Boots. If Conor Benn gets Mario Barris to fight and Boots wants to join, that’s tough,” Edwards said.

If Ennis’ promoter Eddie Hearn decides to set up a fight between Conor Benn and WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios instead of helping him with a unification against Barrios, you can understand why that would bother him if he follows the what is happening

Boots said he didn’t know what happened when he was offered the Vergil Ortiz Jr. fight. at 154. Jaron was talking about what was going on behind the scenes without him realizing it. If Boots’ management doesn’t keep up with him, he’ll be surprised if Conor Benn gets the Barrios fight instead of him.

If Conor gets this fight, Ennis needs to think about moving up to 154 because it means he’ll probably never get a chance to achieve his goal of becoming undisputed at 147.

Assuming Conor wins against Barrios, he would use the WBC title for a big money fight against Manny Pacquiao instead of facing Ennis. He won’t fight him because his chances of success would be slim and he can make more money holding the WBC title to use to lure the 45-year-old Pacquiao. This belt will be the bait trap to lure Manny.