Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis has a decision to make about whether to stay at 147 to continue his dream of becoming the undisputed welterweight champion or move up to 154 to increase his upside against some of the more popular but dangerous fighters in the division.
Boots (32-0, 29 KOs) needs to open his eyes and understand that he may have as much trouble trying to find fights that will help his career at 154 as he did at 147.
Hearn’s Reluctance to Invest
Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, has shown twice now that he is not willing to put money into fights to help him become a welterweight star.
This isn’t the UK, where you can take a fighter and match them up against lower ranked fighters to turn them into an attractive PPV. Hearn didn’t have to lift a finger to make Anthony Joshua a UK superstar.
What Hearn did was compare Joshua to the younger ones and put him with Wladimir Klitschko who is 41 years old to make him a star in Britain. That approach doesn’t work for US promoters who actually have to invest in their fighters, repeatedly matching them against good opposition to make them stars.
They can’t get a 41-year-old world champion and match a young hopeful against them to turn them into a PPV attraction. That won’t work in the US, where fans expect high-quality fights and know when a fighter is protected.
The US is too big for Hearn to use the same strategy he used to turn Joshua into a star in that country. Americans no longer give much weight to Olympic gold medalists, especially if their medal was controversial, like Joshua’s.
In order to become a star in the States, Hearn must negotiate deals so Boots can fight at his best. So, if Boot is going to stay at 147, Hearn has to make up the remaining three fights and camps because he won’t be a star by fighting Karen Chukhadzhian and David Avanesyan.
Lowball Specials and Lost Opportunities
Hearn’s decision not to raise the $1.7 million offered to WBO 147-lb champion Brian Norman Jr. we hindered the opportunity for Ennis to get that fight, which would have helped his career. Tim Bradley said Boots had to come up with his own money to get the deal up to $2.2 million for Norman Jr. he was asking for.
But why should Ennis spend his money if he has Hearn? He signed him off, talking about how he was going to turn Boot into a star. But he won’t be able to do that if he fails to negotiate key battles to bring Norman Jr. together. and losing bag bids in the same week.
WBA champion Eimanis Stanionis was also not interested in fighting Ennis for the money he was offered.
On top of all of that, Hearn lost the IBF title against Boot Ennis to Karen Chukhadzhian. Hearn says he still wants Boots to retain his IBF title, but now it means he will have to fight wherever Karen’s promoters choose. Losing the purse bid was a positive sign for fans that Hearn isn’t interested in cashing in on Ennis’ career to get the fights he needs.
Is It Ennis Time To Dump Hearn?
A source told Thaboxingvoice that Hearn made a six-figure offer to 154-lb contender Charles Conwell to fight Boots. That fight probably won’t happen because Conwell will want to be paid well to face the hot Ennis.
If Boot goes up to 154, there’s no way to know if he’ll do well in that category. Those fighters punch harder than Bhut and have enough talent to defeat him. He’s getting hit with everything, and if he has to lean on his chin to win fights at 154, it might knock him out sooner or later.
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