By Chris Williams: Terence Crawford’s teammate Steven Nelson says Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis lacks the following and experience for him to fight Bud.
Whether Nelson thinks Boots Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs) is worthy of a fight with the undisputed welterweight champion Crawford or not, he’s his IBF mandatory, and the rules are rules.
Crawford & Nelson may not like the Boots Ennis fight from a business perspective, but Bud wants to hold onto his IBF title; he’s going to need to defend that belt.
The IBF title isn’t a keepsake like an old chain or locket that Crawford holds onto forever & passes down from generation to generation.
Hopefully, Crawford has forgotten that he’s going to need to defend his IBF belt against Boots because that belt is going to be stripped if he doesn’t face him soon.
“Boots is a young talented kid, but he doesn’t have the experience and the following to talk on Bud’s level,” said Steven Nelson to Marko boxing on why Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is an option for Terence Crawford to fight.
“People are like, ‘He’s ducking.’ You’re talking about a guy that fights for a living that has been fighting since he was seven,” Nelson said about Crawford about why he shouldn’t have to defend IBF title against his mandatory challenger Boots Ennis.
“He’s [Crawford] accomplished everything up and down the ranks is scared to fight an up & coming fighter. At this point, it’s about business. That’s why an Errol Spence rematch is not profitable.
“Bud is not fighting about legacy anymore. He already did that. Now it’s about the bag. What is Boots going to bring to the table to be like, ‘Okay, this is going to be.’ Is this going to please people who are doubting Bud again, who jumped from Spence, and now they’re using Boots? So is it worth it?
“If that fight don’t come forth, what are you going to do?” said Nelson when asked who will Crawford fight if he doesn’t get Canelo or Jermell Charlo because they’re busy fighting a rematch.
“With [Jermell] Charlo, one of his belts [WBO 154-lb] will be vacated [correction: stripped]. So maybe that fight because it’s for a belt [against the Tim Tszyu vs. Brian Mendoza winner of their October 15th fight].
“If he’s [Crawford] fighting Errol at 154 for nothing, it’s a waste of time, but if you fight Tim at 154 for a belt, now he has 147 and a belt at 154, he’s a four-weight champion.
“Plus, he can wait for Charlo to get done with Canelo, and he has the other three belts [at 154]. Now you can fight because he’ll probably be mandatory. Now he has three belts waiting for him [Crawford]. He waited for him [Jermell]. Now I want undisputed.
“He’s got to honor the contract,” said Nelson about Crawford having no choice but to fight Spence if he agrees to fight him at 147. “Still, it’s a waste of time,” said Nelson about his belief that it’s a waste of time for Crawford to fight Spence again.
Source: Boxing News 24
