Eddie Hearn ‘Still Talking’ To Make Jaron Ennis v Brian Norman Unification Fight

Promoter Eddie Hearn has said he is still working to make a welterweight unification fight between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Brian Norman Jr following a breakdown in negotiations.

IBF champion Ennis (32-0-0 29 KO) and WBO title holder Norman (26-0-0 20 KO) have been telling different sides of the same story this past week over who and who didn’t reject a contract offer for the two Americans to fight.

It started when Ennis revealed an offer had been sent out to Norman’s team but claimed “they turned it down”. Norman quickly responded by posting on X: “I ain’t turn a damn thing down”, before offering his version of events and claiming he “accepted the fight” but Ennis backed out and only wanted a fight when it was for undisputed.

Ennis’ promoter Hearn has now provided an update, telling Boxing Scene: “We want a unification fight for ‘Boots’. If Norman has the balls to step up and fight Boots Ennis, then fair play to him. He should be commended as someone that wants to make the best fights in the sport, and I think Jaron Ennis against Norman is a brilliant fight for American boxing.

“We made two offers to Top Rank, for Brian Norman. Both of which were rejected; I think they were really solid offers; I think they would also agree the money was strong. But we didn’t hear back with a counter-offer.

“I saw something saying, ‘We made a counter-offer’. That’s not true. We’ve never received a counter-offer; we’ve never received a number that gets it done. We just made two offers that were rejected. So, no problem. Listen, let’s keep talking.”

Even if the two sides come to an agreement and proceed with the fight, a significant obstacle could still be Ennis’ mandatory fight. The IBF has ordered the champion to face Karen Chukhadzhian, but it’s a fight that holds little appeal to Ennis, his team, and indeed most boxing fans. ‘Boots’ fought Chukhadzhian just last year and dominated the Ukrainian to win every round.

Hearn also revealed that offers have also gone out to the other welterweight champions: WBC title holder Mario Barrios and the WBA’s Eimantas Stanionis.

“We’ve also made offers to [Eimantas] Stanionis. We’ve made offers to [Mario] Barrios as well. So, the three [other] champions,” Hearn said. “Obviously we’ve got the mandatory, Karen Chukhadzhian, but with all due respect, he’s already fought him, and we don’t really want that fight. We don’t see the value in that fight. But it is what it is with the IBF, so it would be our preferred option to make a unification. No date confirmed, but it will be November.”

The welterweight division has been blown wide open in the past few months after former undisputed champion Terence Crawford moved to 154lbs and his belts were gradually reassigned.

The IBF was the first to act in November last year and stripped Crawford of its title for failing to face Ennis when he was Bud’s mandatory and promoted ‘Boots’ from interim to full champion. The WBC eventually followed suit when Crawford moved to super-welterweight to fight Israil Madrimov and elevated Barrios, while the WBO promoted Norman earlier this month.