By Allan Fox: Terence Crawford has reportedly been stripped of his IBF welterweight title, and interim champ Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis has been elevated to the NEW 147-lb champion.
Oh well, the 36-year-old Crawford had his 15 minutes of fame as the IBF champion, but now it’s over with him being stripped and Jaron Ennis elevated to the full champion at 147.
Terence could have kept the IBF belt if he’d agreed to fight Boots Ennis, but he’s chosen instead to the easier path of fighting Errol Spence Jr. in a rematch and then hustling some fights at 154 or 168.
If Crawford wants his IBF title back, he can always fight Boots Ennis to try to recapture it, but Allan Fox isn’t holding his breath waiting for that to happen. With a young killer like Boots Ennis, he’s not someone to be messed with.
The reaction from fans is mixed about Boots Ennis being elevated to IBF champion outside of the ring, as it’s not the ideal way that they would have wanted to see him become the champ. What else could Ennis do, though, if Crawford wasn’t interested in fighting him?
Crawford being stripped by the IBF could create a chain reaction, with the WBA, WBC & WBO soon following with them taking away his titles that he has no intention of defending.
Terence captured the IBF, WBA & WBC 147-lb belts last July with his ninth round TKO win over Spence Jr., but it’s believed that he’s moving up to 154 for the rematch in early 2024.
Crawford will then either stay at 154 to face Jermell Charlo or move up to 168 if he can get a title shot against undisputed champion Canelo Alvarez.
It’s unclear whether Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) notified the IBF about his plans on not defending his 147-lb title next in his rematch with Errol Spence, which will likely take place at 154.
The report by Michael Benson fails to mention the source for Crawford being stripped, but the news is spreading like wildfire, and fans seem glad because it’s obvious that Terence has no plans on defending the IBF belt against Boots.
The International Boxing Federation hasn’t made an official announcement on the demotion of Crawford and the upgrade for Boots Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs), but most would agree that it’s a logical move by the IBF.
According to New @IBFUSBAboxing that just dropped today @JaronEnnis is list as IBF Welterweight Champion not interim champion like last month.
1st pic is this month rankings
2nd pic is last month rankings ⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/WpvvEWtaxf— Boog Williams (@Ovajay) November 9, 2023
Boots Ennis has been waiting for his title shot against Crawford since last January when he defeated Karen Chukhadzhian to capture the IBF interim belt. Since then, Boots has defended the interim strap once, stopping Roiman Villa in the tenth round last July.
