Boots Ennis Eyes Crawford Superfight — But There's a Long Road First

Jaron 'Boots' Ennis says the fight his fans want most is still on the table — but only if Terence Crawford is willing to walk out of retirement to take it. Ennis, 29 and unbeaten at 36-0 with 32 knockouts, told About Boxing the bout is one "a lot of people want to see," while conceding the whole thing hinges on Crawford deciding he isn't done.

That's the catch. Crawford quit the sport last December, months after dismantling Canelo Alvarez for all four super-middleweight belts to become a five-weight world champion and three-division undisputed king. At 168lbs he had, by any honest measure, run out of mountains. The Ennis fight is the one loose thread — the pound-for-pound test he never got around to.

The History Nobody Cashed In

The two men were on a collision course years ago. Ennis became the IBF mandatory at 147lbs back in 2023, then got bumped up to full welterweight champion when Crawford vacated after his ninth-round stoppage of Errol Spence Jr. Ennis was loud about wanting Bud back then. Crawford moved on. Ennis, to his credit, didn't sulk — he became a two-division unified champion and started building his own résumé.

Hearn's Roadmap

Eddie Hearn has been pitching this fight for years, and he's laid out exactly what needs to happen. According to the Matchroom boss, Ennis's next assignment is a three-belt unification against IBF super-welterweight champion Josh Kelly, who arrived at 18-1-1 (9 KO) off a majority-decision win over Bakhram Murtazaliev. Win that, and Fundora's WBC strap becomes the target. Win that too, and Ennis is undisputed at 154lbs.

Hearn's logic is simple: an undisputed Ennis is the only thing worth tempting Crawford back for. He called it the biggest fight in boxing and said he rates Crawford enormously — but he's betting on Boots to clean out the division first. That's a lot of ifs stacked on top of each other, and Ennis's own finishing power (89% of his wins inside the distance) doesn't guarantee smooth nights against Kelly or Fundora.

For now, this is a fight that exists mostly in the conditional tense. Ennis has to run the gauntlet. Crawford has to want back in. Neither is a given. But the pieces are at least pointed in the same direction, and that's further than this matchup has ever been.