Jaron “Boots” Ennis doesn't run away from anyone, coach Stephen Edwards says. He believes things are “going on behind the scenes, and his promoters are trying to figure out what they can get for him when he turns 147.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
IBF welterweight champion Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) isn't helping himself by turning down fights against interim WBC junior middleweight champion Virgil Ortiz Jr. and Teofimo Lopez. That would have been huge for Boots.
Potts would have fought Virgil on the Turki Al Sheikh card on February 22 in Riyadh, and that would have been a huge payday for him. Fans believed that Ennis beat Virgil Jr. and did not want to go through the risky match for fear of getting beaten.
Potts' decision not to fight Virgil Jr. comes at a bad time for him. He just had a poor performance against Karen Choukhodjian in their rematch on November 9, and some believe his confidence is gone.
Duck discussion
“There are fighters who hide behind their management to not fight fighters, but I don’t think that applies to him,” Stephen Edwards said. YSM Sports Media About his belief that Jaron 'Boots' Ennis doesn't run away from men.
“I don't think he's dodging anyone. “I think there's a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes between them, and they're just trying to figure out who they can get in the ring, and he knows his days are No. 147,” Stephen continued of “Boots.”
“I don't think he's saying, 'I'm afraid to fight this guy.' I just think a lot of things on the business side don't flow very smoothly for him. He has a lot going on. “His team has to put these guys in the ring,” Edwards said.
Obviously, Potts isn't avoiding anyone who is 147 because no one is talented enough to want to avoid them. But it sure looked like he had the better of interim WBC junior middleweight champion Virgil Ortiz Jr. when he was offered this fight recently. Ennis said he wants to stay at 147 for the sake of unification, but his situation there is not promising.
Ennis reportedly turned down a career-high payday to fight Virgil Jr. at the February 22 rally, which seems bad on his part.
Edwards' defence
“If he gets a unification against Brian Norman or a fight against Mario Barrios. Every time I see Connor Penn, they keep talking about Barrios. So, I know it's kind of a struggle when you have a guy on your promotional team, and one guy (Ben) is trying to pick a fight.
“This has to be tough for Potts. If Connor Benn pushes Mario Barrios to fight and Potts wants to unify, that's tough,” Edwards said.
If Ennis's promoter, Eddie Hearn, chooses to set up a fight between Conor Penn and WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios instead of helping him unify against Barrios, you can understand why it would bother him if he was keeping an eye on what was going on.
Potts said he didn't know what happened when he was offered the Virgil Ortiz Jr. fight at 154 years old. Jaron was talking about what was happening behind the scenes without him knowing. If Potts' management doesn't keep him updated, he'll be surprised if Connor Penn gets the fight against Barrios instead.
If Conor wins this fight, Ennis should consider moving up to 154 because that means he will likely never get a chance to achieve his goal of becoming undisputed at 147.
Assuming Conor wins over Barrios, he will use his WBC title in a big-money fight against Manny Pacquiao instead of facing Ennis. He wouldn't fight him because his chances of success would be slim, and he could make more money by retaining the WBC title to use to lure the 45-year-old Pacquiao. This belt will act as bait to lure Manny.
