Bradley To Crawford: Forget Canelo, Take The Boots Ennis Challenge

Commentator Tim Bradley wants Terence Crawford to take the fight with Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. That’s a big fight that will provide Crawford with a nice paycheck, and it’s a match that makes sense if he can’t get the mega-fight against Canelo Alvarez that he’s asking for.

Bradley wants Crawford to come down from the clouds, stop chasing Canelo and begging for a fight, and take what’s in front of him against Boots. Yeah, it won’t bring in the same cash as a fight against Canelo; he will never get that fight.

It doesn’t look like His Excellency Turki Alalshikh will be able to deliver the Canelo (61-2-2, 39 KOs) fight that Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) is asking him to bring. There’s no one else that Crawford can fight at or near his weight class that fans would be as interested in seeing than him and Ennis. Aside from Canelo and Boots, the only guys that fans would be interested in seeing Crawford fight are these guys:

– David Benavidez
– Artur Beterbiev
– Dmitry Bivol
– David Morrell

Crawford’s Risk Aversion

Fans would be excited to see Crawford fight killers against whom he would be the underdog because this would put him in a position where he would need to fight above his level to keep from losing. Unfortunately, Crawford would never fight any of those, just like he would never face Boots Ennis. He’s not a risk-taker.

Crawford is just a guy looking for a final fight against Canelo for big money and is essentially already retired. He never fought anyone besides a wrecked Errol Spence during his career, which the fans cared about. Fans wouldn’t be able to name the 40 other fighters Crawford has fought during his career, especially the champions.

“I hear you, Bud and the Canelo fight is a dream fight of yours. However, there’s a guy right around your weight class that is similar to Canelo and Benavidez. You hold two titles in the welterweight division,” said commentator Tim Bradley to Cigar Talk on X, talking about Terence Crawford needing to fight Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, given that he can’t get the Canelo fight that he’s pushing for.

Bradley is saying that Crawford needs to come down from his dream world and stop with his hopeless vision of a fight he doesn’t deserve. He needs to take the fight that is right there in front of him against Boots, which will pay well and earn Crawford respect from fans if he’s victorious.

“I know they say, ‘He was supposed to fight Spence the second time.’ He didn’t end up fighting Spence,’ and he had an option,” said Bradley.”Boots had an option. Boots has been calling him [Crawford] out for the longest. So, me being in the position of Bud, this is what I would say. ‘Okay, young blood want it. Alright, no problem. He’s going to take this. This is what he gets.’

“If Boots takes it and Bud gets the big end of the stick, 90% [vs.] 10%, if Boots wants that action, there you go. Let’s have it. But 14,000 seats were sold in Philly [for Boots Ennis vs. David Avanesyan on July 13th]. Omaha ain’t too far from there. They can have a meeting point in New York at Madison Square Garden. That fight is going to sell. I’m telling you,” said Bradley about the Crawford vs. Ennis fight.

Crawford-Boots would definitely sell. It wouldn’t be as big a payday for Crawford as a fight against Canelo, but he’s not getting that matchup. So, he needs to put that idea out of his head and focus on what is available, and that’s Boots.

“Everybody is going to come out and watch this fight because Boots is supposed to be the next coming,” said Bradley. “When Bud is out the door, when he’s gone, Boots is supposed to be that guy. Boots is trying to line himself up with Bud because he knows that Bud is going to be leaving the game, and he believes he can beat him.”

The basic problem here is that Crawford appears worried about what could happen if he fights Boots Ennis and is beaten. Crawford, 36, looked faded and old against Israil Madrimov on August 3rd, and it’s clear that age is starting to show. I don’t know if it’s age, but Crawford was finally facing someone with decent ability for a change.

The “Cakewalk” Challenge

“His team truly believes that they can beat him. Now you have everybody making excuses, saying Boots isn’t ready, and you judge him by his last fight [against David Avanesyan]. If Boots isn’t ready, then it should be a cakewalk for Crawford, right? It should be. Then Crawford should step up and face him,” said Bradley.

Obviously, Crawford and his team don’t believe they can beat Boots because if they had thought they could, they would have fought him instead of Madrimov, Spence, David Avanesyan, and Shawn Porter.

“That’s another paycheck. If it’s that easy, step up and fight him if it’s that easy,” said Bradley about wanting Crawford to fight Ennis.