Terence Crawford couldn’t care less what anyone says, writes, Tweets, etc.
The undefeated, undisputed welterweight champion has determined that fighting Jaron “Boots” Ennis doesn’t make enough business sense to make the acknowledged risk worthwhile at this stage of Crawford’s career. Crawford, who will turn 36 on September 28, essentially eliminated any room for speculation regarding boxing Ennis after his immediate rematch with Errol Spence Jr. during an appearance this week on “The Breakfast Club,” a popular morning radio show on New York’s Power 105.1 FM.
“Listen, right now in my career, a lotta people like, ‘Boots this, Boots that, Boots this,’ ” Crawford told co-hosts DJ Envy and Charlamagne The God. “You know, fightin’ Boots is a lose-lose situation. You know, I win they gonna say, ‘Oh, well, he was young. He wasn’t ready. You know, he was talented, he was skillful. But you got the experience over him. You got, you know, so much more than this kid that never been tested before. You know, because we always seen him win [with] flying colors, in [an impressive] way. You know, to where we say, oh man, he’s cold, he’s skillful, but he’s never been in the ring with nobody to test him.’ ”
Philadelphia’s Ennis, 26, is nearly 10 years younger than Crawford. Though undoubtedly an elite-level talent, Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs, 1 NC) hasn’t fought an opponent nearly as complete, experienced, dangerous or versatile as Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs), a three-weight world champion who is number one on BoxingScene.com’s newest pound-for-pound list.
Crawford inherited Ennis, the IBF’s interim 147-pound champion, as one of his mandatory challengers when he stopped Errol Spence Jr. in the ninth round July 29 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas to add the IBF, WBA and WBC titles to his WBO belt. The Omaha, Nebraska native might not fight at the 147-pound limit again, however, because both Crawford and Spence (28-1, 22 KOs) have indicated that the rematch Spence is contractually owed will be contested at the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds.
Crawford has repeatedly expressed interest in fighting fully unified 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo as well.
“Me fightin’ Boots would be like, ‘OK, well, you beat Boots. It’s not a mega-fight. It’s gonna sell a little bit because of [my] name, what you just accomplished,’ ” Crawford said. “But now what? I’m looking for big challenges. You know, I’m trying to go up in weight and fight Charlo. You know, cuz that’s somethin’ that’s history in the making. It’s a lot at stake. You know, there’s nothing really at stake with fightin’ Boots. You know, I’m at the tail end of my career. I’m trying to make things make sense.”
Charlo is scheduled to move up two weight classes – from 154 pounds to 168 – to challenge Canelo Alvarez for the Mexican superstar’s IBF, WBA, WBC and WBO super middleweight titles September 30 at T-Mobile Arena.
Houston’s Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) has stated that he intends to move back down to junior middleweight whether he wins or loses versus Alvarez (59-2-2, 39 KOs), but the WBO has ruled that its interim champion, Australia’s Tim Tszyu (23-0, 17 KOs), will become its full-fledged 154-pound champion once Charlo fights Alvarez. Assuming Tszyu is elevated, Charlo won’t officially be boxing’s undisputed 154-pound champion anymore.
Nevertheless, Crawford considers Charlo a much more marketable opponent than Ennis. The former undisputed 140-pound champion emphasized that the twilight of his Hall-of-Fame career is about making as much money as possible, not placating critics.
“Definitely, a hundred percent about the money,” Crawford said. “Not takin’ anything away from Boots, but you know, where I am at in my career right now, I done fought my ass off to get to where I am. And I deserve to do whatever the f— I wanna do. And I don’t care what nobody say, how anybody feels or any of that. You know, f— ‘em.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.