Commentator Tim Bradley wants Terence Crawford to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. That’s a big fight that will give Crawford a nice payday, and it’s a logical matchup if he can’t get the tough fight against Canelo Alvarez that he’s asking for.
Bradley wants Crawford to come down from the clouds, stop chasing Canelo and asking for a fight, and take what’s in front of him against Boots. Of course, it won’t bring in the same money as a fight with Canelo; he will never get that fight.
It doesn’t look like the Honorable Turki Alalshikh will be able to pull off the Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) fight that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) asked him to handle. There is no one else Crawford can fight at or near his weight class that fans would be interested in seeing other than him and Ennis. Aside from Canelo and Boot, the only guys fans might be interested in seeing Crawford fight are these guys:
– David Benavidez
– Artur Beterbiev
– Dmitry Bivol
– David Morrell
Crawford’s Risk Aversion
Fans would be happy to see Crawford fighting the killers he will be under because this will put him in an opportunity where he will have to fight above his level to not lose. Unfortunately, Crawford will never fight any of those, just like he won’t face Bots Ennis. He is not a risk taker.
Crawford is just a guy who wants one last fight against Canelo for a lot of money and he’s actually already retired. He’s never fought anyone other than the broken Errol Spence during his career, which the fans cared about. Fans couldn’t name 40 other fighters that Crawford fought during his time, mostly champions.
“I understand, the fight between Bud and Canelo is the fight of your dreams. Well, there’s a guy around your weight class like Canelo and Benavidez. He holds two titles in the welterweight division,” said analyst Tim Bradley on Cigar Talk on X, talking about Terence Crawford who has to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, since he can’t get the Canelo fight he is pushing for.
Bradley says Crawford needs to get out of his dream world and stop his pessimistic view of a fight he doesn’t deserve. He must take the fight in front of him against Boots, which will pay off handsomely and earn Crawford respect from the fans if he wins.
“I know they said, ‘He should have fought Spence the second time.’ “He didn’t end up fighting Spence,’ and he had a choice,” Bradley said. Boots had a choice. His brother has been calling him [Crawford] out for a very long time. So, I’m in Bud’s position, this is what I can say. ‘Okay, the little blood wants you. Okay, no problem. You will take this. This is what he got.’
“If Boot takes it and Bud gets the big end of the stick, 90% [vs.] 10%, if Boot wants that action, there you go. Let’s take it. But 14,000 seats were sold in Philly [for Boots Ennis vs. David Avanesyan on July 13th]. Omaha is not too far from there. They can have a meeting place in New York at Madison Square Garden. That fight will sell. I’m telling you,” Bradley said of Crawford’s battle with Ennis.
Crawford-Boots are sure to sell out. It won’t be as big a payday for Crawford as the Canelo fight, but he’s not getting that. So, he needs to get that idea out of his head and focus on what’s available, and that’s Brothers.
“Everyone will come out and watch this fight because Boot must be next,” said Bradley. “Once Bud’s out the door, once he’s gone, Bots has to be that guy. Boot is trying to align himself with Bud because he knows that Bud will leave the game, and he believes that he can beat him.”
The basic problem here is that Crawford seems worried about what might happen if he fights Boot Ennis and gets beaten. Crawford, 36, looked haggard and old against Israel Madrimov on August 3, and it’s clear that age is starting to show. I don’t know if it’s been years, but Crawford finally faced someone with decent switch skills.
The “Cakewalk” Challenge
“His team truly believes they can beat him. Now you have all the people making excuses, saying that Bhuti is not ready yet, and judging him on his last fight [against David Avanesyan]. If Boots isn’t ready, then it should be a cakewalk for Crawford, right? It should be so. Then Crawford has to stand up and face him,” said Bradley.
It’s obvious that Crawford and his team don’t believe they can beat Boots because if they thought they could, they would fight him instead of Madrimov, Spence, David Avanesyan and Shawn Porter.
“That’s another check. If it’s that easy, get up and fight him if it’s that easy,” said Bradley about wanting Crawford to fight Ennis.
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