Ennis Responds To Being Overrated; Says Four Champs Dodged Him

Jaron Ennis says four world champions turned down the opportunity to fight him as questions remain over whether he is overrated.
Ennis is the IBF Welterweight Champion, a belt he inherited after Crawford was stripped as he moved up 154 pounds. Ennis was his IBF mandatory, but Crawford was busy chasing an Errol Spence Jr. rematch. That broke down as Bud then turned his attention to junior middleweight. The perception is that Ennis is overrated since he does not have a big-name win, nor did he beat a champion to secure the belt. Looking at his resume, one of his best wins was against David Avanesyan In his last fight. He stopped Avanesyan in the fifth round to retain his title for the first time. However, Avanesyan was no longer the same fighter after Crawford had stopped him.
Ennis will now rematch Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9 in another defense of his IBF Welterweight Title. Karen is his IBF mandatory. However, Boots had already beaten Karen last year, reducing the demand to see this fight. He had been in talks to secure a unification fight with some of the other names in the division. The WBC Welterweight Champion, Mario Barrios, and the WBO Champion, Brian Norman Jr., were some of the mentioned names. Emanuel Stanios, who holds the WBA title, was also in consideration.
Ennis’ Problems
However, talks never resulted in a fight getting made. Ennis is currently in his prime. He has a 32-0 record with 29 knockouts. However, he has not faced any elite-level names. Ennis recalled how he tried to make fights with Crawford, Spence, Shawn Porter and Keith Thurman. Porter has previously questioned Ennis by stating that his resume is not the best. Meanwhile, fights against Spence, Crawford and Thurman could have been big-name wins, even if they were at the latter end of their careers. While Ennis says he is trying his best to make those fights, unfortunately, they never go over the line.
“He wasn’t the only guy that I was trying to fight. I was trying to fight him. [And] I was trying to fight Errol Spence, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter at one point. I was trying to fight all of those guys at the top. That was my goal. That’s how I was going to make my mark. But, it went a different way. It was out of my hands, so it is what it is. I’m going to be great regardless,” Ennis said
One of the factors that Ennis may need to change is the amount of money he is demanding. Reports indicate the fight with Brian Norman Jr. only broke down due to differences over finances. Eddie Hearn reportedly offered Norman’s team his best offer of $1.7 million. However, it is alleged that Norman’s team wanted $2.2 million. Norman’s team argued that Ennis and him are on the same level since they inherited their belt. The fight never happened, but it does raise questions over how long Ennis can continue to fight mediocre opposition.
The Future
He may not get a world title shot at junior middleweight if he moves up to 154 pounds without cleaning up at 147. Crawford holds the WBA title, Bakhram Murtazaliev has the IBF belt, while Sebastian Fundora has the WBO and WBC. They are all big punchers. Ennis would also have to fight some big-name fighters who weighed 154 pounds and did not hold any belts.
One of those is Vergil Ortiz Jr. He had stopped all of his opponents except for one when he failed against Serhii Bohachuk in his last fight.
Ennis’ decision to sign with Matchroom Boxing allowed him to increase his profile globally, potentially opening up doors to fight in the UK. However, Hearn has no big welterweights for him to do that. There is a fear that Ennis will not be able to capitalize on his talent unless he gets those unification fights. And that will be the goal moving forward.
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