Why Hearn’s Delay Game Is a Disaster for Ennis—A Win Over a Fossilized Crawford Adds Nothing to His Greatness

Eddie Hearn’s plans for delaying the Terence Crawford fight until Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis builds up his resume with three title victories at 154 are weakening the impact of a win over Bud.

Boots Doesn’t Need Babysitting

That approach is just a flat-out cowardly move that diminishes Ennis’s legacy after he beats Crawford. Look at it this way: By the time ‘Boots’ defeats the top guys at junior middleweight to increase his popularity, Crawford will be 40 years old, a broken shell of what he once was.

Not only would Ennis not receive any value-add to his legacy for a win over a past-his-prime Crawford, but the money wouldn’t be better than it is now. The way Crawford looked in his last fight against Canelo Alvarez, he’s not beating any of the top contenders at 168, and would come apart fighting even the top middleweight.

Crawford’s coach, Bernie Davis, is already talking crazy numbers for him to fight Enis or the middleweight champions. He says it’s got to be $100 million. That’s after beating a washed version of Canelo. Just imagine what the price would be to get Crawford to fight ‘Boots’ if he beats someone else? He could ask for something even more absurd, like $150 million.

“100 million no less. Not 75, not 90, 100. It’s got to be 100 million. If it’s not 100 million, then what is he doing it for? He ain’t going for nothing,” said Crawford’s coach Bernie Davis on MillCity Boxing about how much it’s going to take for him to haul himself back in the ring.

Three Belts, Zero Meaning

Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) looks more than ready to beat Crawford after his first-round annihilation of Uisma Lima last Saturday night. He doesn’t need to waste his time bagging these four before fighting Crawford:

• Vergil Ortiz Jr.
• Sebastian Fundora
• Abass Baraou
• Xander Zayas

Crawford’s Archaean Decline

It’ll take too long for ‘Boots’ to fight three or four of those guys, and by then, Crawford will resemble an ancient fossil from the Archaean Eon, dating back 3.5 billion years. He already looked old in his last two fights against Canelo and Israil Madrimov. A whole bunch of people had Crawford losing to Madrimov, and I totally agree with them.

Madrimov looked like pure 24k gold against Terence, landing huge shots, and looking like a new age GGG. I don’t blame Madrimov for being angry about not getting the win because he deserved it.

“If he blows himself in a position where it makes sense for Crawford to fight him, at that point, Crawford is 40 years old, and ‘Boots’ is in his prime. I think Crawford should fight him right now if he’s ever going to fight him,” said analyst Max Kellerman to the InsideTheRingShow on X about Terence Crawford needing to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis now.

I totally agree with Kellerman. He’s right to the T with this view. Where’s the gain for Ennis if he beats a 40-year-old Crawford? No one is going to give him credit for the win, and that’s if he gets the fight.

Turki’s Patience Has Limits

With Bernie talking wacky $100 million to get Crawford back in the ring, Turki Alalshikh may wash his hands of him once and for all. He’d be better off investing money in the younger fighters, like David Benavidez, who will be around for another 10 to 15 years. I’d have already done it by now if I were Turki and got wind of Bernie talking the $100M nonsense.

Written by Nation Vegas, a Boxing Analyst covering world title fights since 2013.