The damage that Jaron “Boots” Ennis is inflicting on the rest of the welterweight division might be surprising to some, but for Terence Crawford, he saw this coming a mile away.
This past weekend, at the Ballroom Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) made a violent statement against Roiman Villa.
Known as a durable and relentless fighter, Villa did his best to push the 26-year-old to the limit. Ultimately, however, his normally effective offensive attack proved to be innocuous.
After tagging his man with lefts, rights, and everything under the sun, Ennis finally got him up outta there, stopping him in the 10th round.
As everyone continues to sing Ennis’ praises and announce him as the division’s next best thing, Crawford shrugs his shoulders and reiterates that he knew for an incredibly long time how talented Ennis is.
“I always said Boots was a great talent,” Crawford told BoxingScene.com. “I been supporting him since the amateurs.”
Soon after Ennis took care of business, Crawford refocused his attention on the monumental task at hand.
On July 29th, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs) will look to become an undisputed welterweight champion when he takes on Errol Spence Jr. As long as everything goes according to plan, Crawford will be in desperate need of a dance partner. Luckily for him, Ennis would be ready, willing, and able to step right in.
Facing an opponent nearly 10 years younger than him isn’t out of the realm of possibility. But more important than simply fighting someone with a gargantuan amount of talent, Crawford sees something familiar in Ennis. Every time the Philadelphia native jumps into the ring and does his damage, Crawford rubs his eyes. For the 35-year-old pound-for-pound star, watching Ennis is almost like looking in a mirror.
“Seeing him, I kinda see myself in him. He deserves a title shot, he deserves it all. His time will come.”