Coach Stephen Edwards says Jaron “Boots” Ennis isn’t running away from anyone. He thinks that these are things “that are happening behind the scenes, and his promoters are trying to understand what they can get for him at 147.
(Credit: Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing)
IBF welterweight champion Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) isn’t helped by turning down fights against interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Teofimo Lopez. Those 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 big payday for him. The fans think that Ennis ran away from Vergil Jr and did not want to take the risky match for fear of being beaten.
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 think her confidence is gone.
The Ducking Debate
“There are fighters who duck behind his management for not fighting fighters, but I don’t think that applies to him,” Stephen Edwards told YSM Sports Media about his belief that Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is not ducking guys.
“I don’t think that he will tease anyone. I just think that there are many things that happen behind the scenes, and they are just trying to understand who they can get in the ring, and he knows that his days are numbered at 147,” Stephen said continued on “Boots”.
“I don’t think he’s saying, ‘I’m afraid to fight this guy.’ those guys in the ring,” Edwards said.
Boots, obviously, is not ducking anyone at 147 because there is no one talented enough for him to avoid. But he certainly seems to have run away from interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. when that fight was offered to him recently. Ennis said he wanted to stay at 147 to unify, but his situation is not promising.
Ennis stated that he turned down a career paycheck to fight Vergil Jr. for the career of February 22, which looks bad on his part.
Edwards’ defense
“Whether he gets a unification against Brian Norman or a fight against Mario Barrios. Every time I see Conor Benn, they keep talking about Barrios. So, I know there is some kind of conflict when you have a guy who is in your promotion stable, and a guy (Benn) trying to fight.
“This must be tough with Boots. If Conor Benn gets Mario Barrios to fight and Boots wants to unify, it’s tough,” said Edwards.
If Ennis’ promoter Eddie Hearn chooses to put Conor Benn in the fight with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios rather than help him with a unification against Barrios, you can understand why he would be unhappy if follow what happens.
Boots said he didn’t know what happened when the Vergil Ortiz Jr. fight. it was offered to him at 154. Jaron was talking about what was going on behind the scenes without him being aware of it. If Boots’ management doesn’t keep him informed, he’ll be surprised if Conor Benn gets the fight against Barrios instead of him.
If Conor gets that fight, Ennis needs to think about moving up to 154 because it means he will probably never have the opportunity to achieve his goal of becoming undisputed at 147.
Assuming Conor is victorious against Barrios, he will use the WBC title for a big money fight against Manny Pacquiao instead of facing Ennis. He won’t beat him because his chances of success will be slim, and he can make more money by holding the WBC title to use to lure the 45-year-old Pacquiao.
