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Coach Steven Edwards says Jayron “Boots” Ennis doesn't shy away from anyone. He believes things are “going on behind the scenes and his promoters are trying to figure out what they can get for him at 147 years old.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
IBF welterweight champion Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) isn't helping himself by turning down bouts against WBC interim junior middleweight champion Virgil Ortiz Jr. and Teofimo Lopez. These would be huge for Boots.
Boots could fight Vergil on the Turki Al-Shiekh card on Feb. 22 in Riyadh, and that would be a big payday for him. Fans believe that Ennis ran away from Virgil Jr. and didn't want to accept the risky match for fear of being defeated.
Boots decision not to fight Vergil Jr comes at a bad time for him. He just had a terrible performance against Karen Chouhadjian in their rematch on November 9, and some believe his confidence is gone.
The ducking debate
“There are fighters who hide behind their management so they don't fight fighters, but I don't think that applies to him,” Stephen Edwards told YSM Sports Media on his belief that Jayron “Boots” Ennis doesn't get away with guys.
“I don't think he's avoiding anybody. “I just think there's a lot going on behind the scenes between them and they're just trying to figure out who they can get in the ring, and he knows his days are numbered at 147,” Stephen continued of Boots.
“I don't think he's saying, 'I'm afraid to fight this guy.' I just think about a lot of things on the business side that haven't gone smoothly for him. He has many things. His team just needs to get these guys in the ring,” Edwards said.
Boots obviously isn't avoiding anyone at 147 because he isn't talented enough to want to avoid them. But it sure looks like he left interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. behind when that fight was offered to him recently. Ennis said he wants to stay at 147 for the unification, but his situation there is not promising.
Ennis reportedly turned down a top payday to fight Virgil Jr. for his career on Feb. 22, which looks bad on his part.
Edwards' defense
“If he gets a unification against Brian Norman or a fight against Mario Barrios. Every time I see Connor Benn, they keep talking about Barrios. So, I know there's some kind of conflict when you have a guy who's in your promotional stable and one guy (Ben) is trying to fight.
“This must be difficult for Boots. If Conor Benn gets Mario Barrios to fight and Boots wants to team up, that's tough,” Edwards said.
If Ennis' promoter, Eddie Hearn, chooses to set up a fight between Conor Benn and WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios instead of helping him with the unification against Barrios, you can understand why that would upset him if he's watching what's going on.
Boots said he doesn't know what happened when the fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr. was offered to him at 154. Jaron was talking about what was going on behind the scenes without him knowing. If Boots' management doesn't keep him in the loop, he'll be surprised if Conor Benn gets the Barrios fight instead.
If Conor gets this fight, Ennis should consider moving up to 154 because that means he will likely never get a chance to achieve his goal of becoming undisputed at 147.
Assuming Conor beats Barrios, he would be using the WBC title for a big money fight against Manny Pacquiao instead of facing Ennis. He won't fight him because his chances of success would be slim and he can make more money holding the WBC title to use to attract the 45-year-old Pacquiao. This belt will be the bait trap to lure Manny.
