Tim Bradley is angry at seeing how Terence Crawford has openly avoided fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, giving him the same treatment that Errol Spence gave him.
Boxing analyst Bradley feels that Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) should have fought Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) after he captured the undisputed welterweight championship last July against Spence. Instead of doing that, Crawford moved up to 154 and is challenging Israil Madrimov for his WBA junior middleweight title on August 3rd at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
While Crawford-Madrimov is a great fight for the fans, it’s not as big of a clash as a match between Crawford and ‘Boots’ Ennis would have been. Fans feel that it’s obvious why Crawford chose not to fight Ennis. He’s seen as a younger, more powerful, and better version of Crawford and would make a wreck out of the 36-year-old fighter.
Given that Crawford being positioned for a mega-fight against Canelo Alvarez for his undisputed super middleweight championship next year, provided he wins his match against Madrimov (10-0-1, 7 KOs), a match against ‘Boots’ Ennis is not in the cards. He would mess up those plans and all thie money that would come from that fight. It’s basic business.
Watching Crawford work out with Andre Ward this week in half-speed sparring, he could be heading for trouble against the 29-year-old Madrimov.
If it goes to the scorecards, Crawford might be Crawford’s best bet of winning because his chances of knocking out Madrimov are slim. If he tries, he will get hit with some shots that could spoil his night.
“‘Boots’ has been after Crawford for some time now. He wants all that smoke. Crawford was at 147 at one point, and now he’s at 154. However, why can’t we get a Crawford and ‘Boots’ Ennis?” said boxing analyst Tim Bradley to Probox TV, complaining about how Terence Crawford ducked Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis when he fought at 147 from 2018 to 2023 and then fled the division.
Crawford is doing to Ennis what Canelo is with David Benavidez. He’s avoiding a younger fighter who would take advantage of his advanced age and the 300,000 miles he has on his odometer. Crawford can’t roll back his mileage clock like a used car salesman would to pull off an upset of a young talent like Ennis.
So, instead of fighting him and likely getting beaten, he’s swerving him and keeping his fingers crossed that he still has enough left in the tank to beat the younger, stronger, and more versatile Madrimov.
“When Crawford was the undisputed champion [at 147], he could have fought against ‘Boots’ Ennis then,” said Porter. “To me, it seems that Crawford is being just like Spence was to him. When Crawford moved up to 147 [in 2018], Spence said, ‘Get a belt.’ Crawford got a belt and said, ‘Okay, what’s the excuse now? What do you want me to do?’ ‘Well, you ain’t fought anybody.'”
Of course, Crawford is giving Boots Ennis the same treatment that Spence gave to him because he’s got the Canelo fight being waved in front of his snoot with all thie green stuff he can make from that match-up. Who wouldn’t do the same thing if they were in Crawford’s shoes?
When you get old, have only rarely fought in the last four years, and have not faced high-level opposition in years, you don’t voluntarily fight a talent like Boots Ennis. He would be bad for anyone’s health, especially Crawford, who turns 37 in September.
“You’re hearing the same excuses coming from the Crawford team with the same thing Spence did to him. Is he ready for Crawford, Boots Ennis? Yes, he’s ready right now for Terence Crawford. I’m telling you,” said Bradley.
