'Very dangerous' – Terence Crawford had words for his new biggest rival Jaron 'Boots' Ennis after finding out he will be ringside for Israil Madrimov

03/08/2024 04:50

Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will be ringside for Terence Crawford vs Israil Madrimov because he wants to fight Crawford next, Eddie Hearn has told talkSPORT.com.

The IBF welterweight world champion arrived in LA ahead of Saturday’s fight, having established himself as Crawford’s new biggest rival.

For a long time, that was a position held by Errol Spence.

The pair were linked with a fight against each other for around five years between 2018 and 2023.

This finally culminated in a showdown last year, which Crawford famously dominated and won by emphatic stoppage.

Immediately after that result, Ennis was in position to challenge him.

He already held the IBF ‘interim’ belt which gave him the spot as mandatory challenger.

This meant Boots was next in line for a shot at Crawford’s new title.

However, as he was initially obligated for a rematch with Spence, which ultimately never materialised, Crawford was unable to accept Ennis’ challenge.

A few months later, he was stripped of the IBF welterweight world title and Ennis became champion by default.

Last month, Ennis returned to the ring for his first defence and took on David Avanesyan – who Crawford previously knocked out in six rounds.

Boots went one better by stopping the fight after just five.

He then reiterated his call out and insisted he would be willing to move up in weight to make a showdown with Crawford happen next.

First up for Crawford though is his clash with Madrimov on Saturday night.

In his first bout since toppling Spence, he is moving up to super-welterweight and attempting to become a four-weight world champion.

While this fight will be no easy task, the American remains the favourite.

And his new big rival Ennis will be ringside waiting for the opportunity to challenge him once more, if he does indeed emerge victorious as expected.

"Obviously he wants to fight Terence Crawford,” Ennis’ promoter Hearn told talkSPORT.com on Friday.

“He wants to unify at 147lbs, that's the priority. But after the fight with David Avanesyan His Excellency Turki Alalshikh FaceTimed me and said, 'If Canelo won't fight Crawford, then I wanna make that fight.'

“We love that fight, it's a very dangerous fight but it's one of the best fights in boxing."

The pair came face-to-face in a brief backstage altercation at Friday’s weigh-in.

Seemingly referring to previous comments made by Boots, Crawford turned to him and said, ‘I thought you weren’t gonna watch,’ before walking away.