Terence Crawford Is Not Buying The Jaron Ennis Hype
Right then — a few nights after Jaron Ennis produced the performance of his career, the pound-for-pound king himself has stepped in to cool the room down. Terence Crawford has pointedly played down the hype around Boots, and when the best boxer on the planet tells you to pump the brakes, you at least listen. Whether you agree is another matter entirely.
Let's not beat around the bush about what Jaron Ennis actually did. He walked into Brooklyn, dropped Xander Zayas in the very first round, weathered a genuinely dangerous spell in the third and fourth, then took over and stopped a previously unbeaten fighter in the seventh. That is not a lucky night. That is a proper statement, and it moved Ennis to 36-0 with 32 knockouts while lifting unified junior middleweight belts.
Was The Zayas Win Really That Impressive?
Crawford's angle, as I read it, is simple: beating a blown-up welterweight who'd never operated at that level isn't the same as beating the elite. And there's a kernel of truth in it. Zayas is a lovely young fighter, but he was moving up and stepping up on the same night, and Jaron Ennis is exactly the kind of sharpshooter who punishes that. Context matters.
But make no mistake, I think Crawford is being a touch stingy here. You can only beat what's in front of you, and the manner of the win — the composure after being rocked, the ice-cold finish — is exactly what separates good from special. Jaron Ennis announced himself as a genuine pound-for-pound player that night, and no amount of cold water changes the tape.
Crawford vs Ennis: The Fight That Writes Itself
Of course, there's a reason the greats keep an eye on the new man coming through, and it's the fight everybody can already see. Terence Crawford against Jaron Ennis is a genuine future blockbuster — two of the slickest, most complete boxers in the sport, both blessed with the switch-hitting brilliance that makes them nightmares to prepare for. If you know, you know: this one has superfight written all over it.
My Prediction
I'm not sitting on the fence. Right now, today, Crawford's experience and ring IQ would edge a razor-thin decision over a Jaron Ennis who is still adding the final polish to his elite credentials. But give it eighteen months and I genuinely think Boots flips it. He is that good, and he is improving fight on fight. Crawford is right to keep the crown close — he can feel the man coming for it. For the full account of the night that started all this, read our Zayas vs Ennis fight report.