Via Chris Williams: Tim Bradley felt that the undefeated high-ranked Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis had nothing to do with Terence Crawford and he believed he would be defeated by the Nebraska natives.
Boot Ennis’ size, strength, youth, and attack power would be too much for this writer’s estimate of 34-year-old Crawford. Whether that is something Bradley wants to avoid happening is unknown.
The match Bradley wants is Errol Spence Jr against Crawford, as long as Errol wins the April 16 unifying clash against WBA welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas.
If Crawford can’t fight Spence, his best bet is to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (28-0.26 KOs) as he’s much better than the six boxers Crawford has faced since moved up to 147th – division 2018.
WBO fighting champion Crawford in the welterweight division is a mix of old hill climbers and mid-range edge contenders.
Crawford’s Past Experience at 147:
- Kell Brook
- Shawn Porter
- Amir Khan
- Jeff Horn
- Jose Benavidez Jr
- Egidijus Kavaliauskas
Looking at that group, it’s fair to say that Boots Ennis is much better than any of those guys. Contrary to what Bradley is saying, Boots Ennis has a lot to offer Crawford.
Of course, if Bradley is only focused on the biggest money fight, Spence is clearly the way to go, but if that fight doesn’t happen, who will Crawford face?
It looks like the Spence-Crawford fight won’t come next as Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman has been mentioned as a strong possibility for Spence to face.
Former WBA/WBC champion Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) in his recent ‘back’ match against Mario Barrios on Feb. 5. Thurman is a big name, and he has the marketing ability to making the fight between him and Spence huge in terms of pay-per-view.
Probably a lot bigger than a Spence-Crawford clash, which can be difficult to sell in bulk.
Crawford vs. Boots = NOT a great fight say Tim
“I have to go with Spence, man. I liked the way Spence looked,” Tim Bradley told Against TV Hub in choosing Errol Spence Jr. to defeat Yordenis Ugas on April 16.
“I understand that but what is at stake for Crawford? What will that do for him?Bradley said that Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis wanted to fight Crawford.
“What would that do for him? You think it’s a great fight? Really?” Bradley said it sounded great at the idea of Boots Ennis being put on Crawford even though it was a much bigger game than the ones he’d faced in years.
“Are you crazy? Against Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford? Are you kidding me? I don’t think it’s a vindication but I do think someone is going to sleep and it won’t be Crawford,” Bradley said in a voice that sounded more like Terence’s guardian guardian than an analyst.
“You are crazy. You’d better respect Crawford’s name, wouldn’t you The current. Please respect my son’s name. I like Boots, but who he fought as you would say, ‘Oh, he could take Crawford.’ Who did he fight with?
“Did he get emotional during those battles?” Bradley said without mentioning the fights Boots Ennis is said to have marked. “Now imagine Crawford touching him,” Bradley said.
You can find a lot of boxing fans who will disagree with his view that Ennis is not a great opponent for Crawford. Who did Crawford battle that could beat Boots Ennis during his 14-year professional career?
At this point, the best opponent Crawford had fought was store keeper Shawn Porter, but he was already over the hill by the time they fought.
Porter was a good – but not great – fighter in his career, but he was over that by the time Crawford fought him.
Shawn is said to have been defeated by Yordenis Ugas in March 2019, after which he lost to Spence, and after that defeat, Porter took on Sebastian Formella and then ended his career against Crawford.
Bradley chose Spence over Ugas
“I have to go with Spence,” Bradley said. “I love the way he looks and the way he sounds, his nice skin and good eyes when I watch him.
“He looks really good. I like interviews. I gave Spence a hard time because I wanted to see him fight Crawford. That’s why I gave him a hard time,” Bradley said.
“Everybody said, ‘You always throw sharp knives at him.’ I think he’s a great fighter, but I just feel like the fight with Crawford should happen soon,” Tim said of Errol and Crawford.
“Do you understand that? Because if another injury gets in, then we have to wait another year, man,” Bradley said of the undisputed match between Spence and Crawford. “It was like, ‘Come on, let’s make this fight.’
“So I’m going to hold him accountable because he’s said before that once he gets his third title, that’s when he’ll go after the Crawford fight.
Once he [Spence] defeat Ugas, and he will because Ugas is the perfect fit for him. He’s a guy who likes to sit in the front, a guy who likes to cover up and use high protection. Spence was beautiful when he appeared around the guardians who were descending on the body.
“A man is like this, and you go around the body and then up. Using a stick to control him, stab him with his left hand once and then shoot him twice from behind.
“I know Spence very, very well. I follow Spence. He’s a good fighter, a really good fighter, he really is. His toughness and he continues to show it because he keeps fighting these guys, even getting hurt, man. The best guys in the world, so you have to respect that.
“I know he’s a dog, he’s a dog, man. This guy escaped death, let’s put it that way. He was thrown and thrown out of a vehicle. You must understand that. 100 miles an hour. He broke a bone in his face, that’s it.
“Unbelievable. So it shows you right there that he’s different, he’s built differently without a doubt. Then he got injured and came back and faced who? Danny Garcia is so annoying,” Tim said.
Chris Williams had no argument with Bradley in choosing Spence over Ugas by 35 on April 16.
There’s no doubt that Spence will win that bout as Ugas looked unremarkable against his 42-year-old Manny Pacquiao last August.
Spence shouldn’t be fighting Thurman
“Yes, and I’ll tell you why, man,” Bradley said when asked if he would have gone mad if Spence had faced Keith Thurman after Ugas and not Terence Crawford.
“You’ve seen all the pay-per-view, and you’ve heard things about PBC and all that. You hear all of this, ‘Oh, Crawford doesn’t sell pay-per-view.’ Do you see how many pay-per-view Thurman has sold? [for his fight against Mario Barrios]?
“Did you see that? So if Crawford didn’t sell, he’d pay a lot more per view than Thurman did. [for his fight against the recently knocked out Barrios]. So what are we talking about, people?
“Stop it. Do you think Thurman sold more than Crawford? Stop. Save it there. No, I don’t want to watch Thurman fight. I want to see him [Spence] fight Ugas, defeat Ugas, and then go to Crawford.
“Thurman doesn’t want to have.” Bradley said when asked if Thurman should fight Crawford next. “Thurman didn’t want to be without Crawford.
“I think you in the media need to push these guys to fight him [Crawford]. It’s not, ‘He can’t sell.’ Everyone uses that as an excuse, man,” Bradley said.
