Josh Kelly’s manager/trainer, Adam Booth, says Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn gave them a “derisory” offer for a fight against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis on October 11th in Philadelphia. Booth states that they were told that they needed to agree to the offer within 24 hours.
Adam says Hearn’s offer was “less than half” of what #3 WBO Kelly (17-1-1, 9 KOs) has been making for his 10-round fights. He noted that Hearn took to social media to talk about how he’d made the offer, and he saw that as a sneaky pressure tactic to force Kelly to accept the lowball offer.
Booth Blasts Hearn’s Tactics
“The date was October the 11th in Philadelphia for a fight purse that Eddie [Hearn] knows is derisory [ridiculously] low,” said trainer/manager Adam Booth to the Ring Magazine channel, talking about the offer that promoter Eddie Hearn made for Josh Kelly to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Ennis Investment Problem
The investment in Ennis’ career just isn’t there. If Hearn wants to get the fights for ‘Boots,’ like the Kelly clash, he’s got to be willing to pay more than what he wants. In other words, invest in Jaron.
It looks similar to how Hearn failed to negotiate a fight for Ennis against WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. by offering what his team felt was too low. When Hearn failed to sweeten the offer, his fighter, ‘Boots’, ended up having to fight an IBF-ordered rematch with Karen Chukhadzhian.
“It was less than half of what Josh has been paid for a 10-round bout, and Eddie knows that,” said Booth about the lowball offer. “The fact that he’s gone straight to the media rather than speaking to me…He said, ‘We need an answer within 24 hours because we have other options.’ Within an hour, I saw it popping up all over social media. So, I said, ‘Okay, Eddie is trying the old tested route of using the media to pressure someone to take a fight for money he knows isn’t the right money.’
Hearn’s Pressure Play Fails
So, Hearn is trying to get Kelly at a bargain basement discount price, and it’s not going to work. Kelly just got a nice payday for his fight against Ishmael Davis on Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season card last September in London. He’s going to likely want an even better purse than he got for that fight, because Ennis is on another level than Ishmael.
If you’re Kelly, you should expect at least a purse in the $2 million range for a headliner against Ennis. If Turki gets involved, the price should go up even higher.
Serious Offer Needed for Kelly
“If Eddie is serious about making that fight, he has to speak to me and make a serious offer,” said Booth. “When you really don’t want to make a fight, you make a lowball offer. You make an offer that you know isn’t enough. It feels like that at the moment, but let’s see what transpires today.”
Booth has got it wrong. Hearn wants the Kelly fight, but he’s trying to get him at a low price because he doesn’t have to spend a lot. Of course, Hearn wants this fight because Kelly is ranked #3 WBO, and the clash for Ennis would likely be a 154-lb title eliminator to become the mandatory challenger to champion Xander Zayas. That guy is the weakest link among the current four champions at junior middleweight by far. Fighting him would be a step down for Boots from his recent fights against Eimantas Stanionis and Karen Chukhadzhian.
“Don’t put pressure on me. We have other options. There’s still 10 weeks to go before the date that he mentioned [October 11th],” said Booth.
Last Updated on 07/29/2025
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