Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is on the cusp of greatness in boxing’s welterweight division – now he just has to hope his big rivals hold the same sort of ambitions.
The Philadelphia superstar improved to 34-0 with 30 wins inside distance by blasting out the game Eimantas Stanionis inside six rounds in Atlantic City last weekend. In the process he added the WBA title to the IBF strap he already owned at 147lbs.
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Ennis is now one of the bona fide superstars of the sport, with incredible potential to star in future megafights. He is desperate to unify the titles at welterweight, and the next man on his hit list appears to be WBO king Brian Norman Jr (27-0).
Brian Norman next for ‘Boots’?
The big question is though, does Norman actually want to take on a fight which would come with significant risk to his perfect record, and his status as a world champion.
But Matchroom Boxing supremo Eddie Hearn, who of course promotes ‘Boots’, says Norman has been offered what he terms ‘mad’ money to step up and take the challenge.
Speaking to IFL TV on YouTube, he said: “‘Boots’ will fight anyone but the dream is to beat the champion and obviously to see if there is a way to to become undisputed.”
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When asked if Norman would be the next opponent, Hearn added: “You’ve gotta want the fight, this is the problem. It’s well documented that $2m was the number. Brian Norman just boxed on the undercard of Mikaela Mayer against Sandy Ryan for a couple of hundred bags ($200k). Now you get offered nearly 10 times whatever that purse was to prove yourself to prove yourself as one of the best. You’ve just got to hope that people have ambition to do that.
“The money’s mad for someone like him, but we’re willing to pay it. I think it’s a good fight, Brian Norman’s a good fighter. There’s a good bit of chat there, I think the old man speaks it up a bit, I think it’s a great fight.”
While ‘Boots’ now owns the WBA and IBF straps, and Norman is the WBO king, Mario Barrios is the WBC champion with superstar Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford the champion in recess.
Crawford of course has stepped up in weight for now to pursue that blockbuster at super-middleweight vs Canelo Alvarez later this year. His future at welter is unclear but a matchup with ‘Boots’ at some stage would generate huge interest.
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