Crawford and Ennis Trade Words on Air as the Fight That Never Was Rumbles On

Terence Crawford and Jaron Ennis have never thrown a punch at each other, but they came close to it on a broadcast desk. During Friday night's DAZN coverage of Andy Ruiz Jr's return against Damian Knyba, the two American stars went back and forth on air, with Crawford insisting he'd have been too much for 'Boots' had the fight ever happened. Ennis, 36-0 with 32 knockouts, has heard it before and doesn't seem to care.

The link between them stretches back to Crawford's reign as undisputed welterweight king, when Ennis was the hungry contender nobody at 147 wanted. That fight never got made. Crawford vacated, moved to 154 to beat Israil Madrimov, then jumped to super-middleweight and outpointed Canelo Alvarez before walking away undefeated and a champion across five weight classes.

Two Careers, One Argument

Ennis didn't stand still. After unifying at welterweight, he climbed to 154 and stopped Xander Zayas inside seven rounds to collect the WBA and WBO super-welterweight titles. That's a finish rate hovering near 89 percent, and he's made it plain that undisputed is the target. Sebastian Fundora, the WBC champ at 24-1-1, and IBF holder Josh Kelly (18-1-1) are the names standing between Ennis and every belt at the weight.

Crawford's public position has been layered. He's said he wants Ennis to succeed, but he's also argued that 'Boots' got too much credit for the Zayas win and warned that his willingness to trade could get him hurt against a puncher like Vergil Ortiz Jr or a giant like Fundora. He's even picked Fundora to beat him. Ennis, for his part, keeps pointing to the obvious: Crawford is retired.

That hasn't stopped Ennis and promoter Eddie Hearn from teasing a Crawford comeback, with 'Boots' branding the theoretical matchup 'easy work'. Crawford countered on air by saying Ennis only earns the respect he's chasing if he beats elite opposition at 154 — naming Ortiz and Fundora specifically.

For now, this stays in the talking-point column. Crawford looks comfortable in retirement, and Ennis is focused on cleaning out super-welterweight, with a unification against Kelly reportedly close and potentially landing before year's end. The fight itself feels remote. The argument over who wins it? That one's going nowhere.