Trainer Brian “Bomac” McIntyre doesn’t feel that his ace client, Terence Crawford, is under any obligation to fight Jaron “Boots” Ennis.
Omaha, Nebraska’s Crawford was recently stripped of his IBF title, which he won in his high-profile undisputed welterweight title match against Errol Spence Jr. in July at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The move has now allowed Philadelphia’s Ennis to become the new welterweight belt holder under the IBF.
The IBF justified its decision based on the fact that Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) cannot comply with the sanctioning body’s order for him to make a mandatory title defense against top-rated Ennis. Crawford, 36, is contractually committed to give Spence a rematch; it will reportedly take place early next year.
As for a fight with the 26-year-old Ennis? According to McIntyre, Ennis simply does not make business sense for Crawford at this stage in their respective careers.
“Yeah, he don’t bring nothin’ to the table, man,” McIntyre said of Ennis in an interview with FightHype.com. “You know, Terence is at a stage now in his career to where he can pick and choose what he want to do. If he don’t want to fight Boots because Boots doesn’t bring anything to the table, hey, that’s what he chose to do. I’mma ride with him. And if anybody don’t ride with him, I wouldn’t give a damn and I’m sure he don’t either.”
McIntyre, who also trains Keshawn Davis and Troy Isley, also suggested that Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) may not be as good as advertised. The veteran coach said there may be some unheralded 147-pounders who could trouble Ennis.
“There’s some good welterweights out there that could probably give him a run for this money,” McIntyre said. “But they just haven’t been discovered yet.”
Ennis last fought in July, a dominant 10th-round stoppage of Roiman Villa at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City.
Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.