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WELTERWEIGHT

Jaron Ennis Says Terence Crawford Might Un-Retire — And He Would Not Say What Was Said

Boots Ennis had a back-and-forth with Terence Crawford, some of it off camera, and came away saying the retired pound-for-pound great might not be finished. Luke on whether that fight can still happen and what it would take.

By • September 7, 2026 By
  • Jaron 'Boots' Ennis says a recent face-to-face exchange with retired champion Terence Crawford — partly off camera — left him thinking Crawford could come out of retirement
  • The fight never happened during Crawford's welterweight reign; Crawford has said he will not go back down to 154, which would mean Ennis moving up to make it
  • Luke's verdict: this is Ennis keeping a door open rather than a fight being made — but if Crawford ever does come back, this is the only opponent worth coming back for

The One That Got Away

Right then. Jaron Ennis has been asked about Terence Crawford more times than he has been asked about his own next opponent, and on Monday he finally gave an answer with something in it. He had a back-and-forth with Crawford face to face. Some of it was on camera. Some of it, by his own admission, was not — and he would not say what was said.

"We were basically talking about my upcoming fights and this, that and the third. We had a little back and forth, and we had a little back and forth off camera. That's it," Ennis said. And then the line that got everybody's attention: "Who knows? He might come out of retirement. Who knows? I'm going to clean up this division, and then, like I said, this is my game, man. I'm the best. I'm taking over the division one by one."

Why This Fight Never Happened

Let's not beat around the bush. Ennis was the most avoided welterweight in the world for about four years, and Crawford was the best one. The fight made itself and nobody made it. Crawford went up, beat Errol Spence Jr and then closed his career with the win over Canelo Alvarez, and by the time the boxing public had finished arguing about whether Ennis had been ducked, the window had shut.

Crawford's stated position is that he is not going back to 154. That is not a small detail — it means any version of this fight is Ennis moving up rather than Crawford coming down, and moving up to meet a 39-year-old who has been out of the ring is a very different proposition to catching him at his peak at 147.

The Zayas Argument

Crawford has also made a point of noting the moments where Xander Zayas found success against Ennis before being stopped. He is not wrong that there were openings. He is stretching it when he implies a more experienced finisher would have used them, because the fighter who found those openings was then comprehensively taken out. Still — that is the seed of the argument Crawford would sell if he ever wanted to come back, and he knows it.

Is Ennis Actually Waiting?

No, and he said as much. "I'm going to clean up this division" is a man with a plan that does not depend on a retired opponent. Ennis is the best fighter at his weight and he has been for a while — the difference between him and the rest is not close, and he has stopped pretending to be diplomatic about it.

But he is also smart enough not to slam the door. Every time he mentions Crawford, the fight stays alive in the public imagination, and if Crawford ever does get bored of retirement, Ennis is the name that makes the comeback worth the risk. That is worth a sentence in an interview.

Luke's Verdict

Crawford does not come back. He went out on the single most improbable win of the modern era, he has nothing left to gain, and men who retire on top of the Canelo win do not generally return to chase a fight they could have taken five years ago. If I am wrong — and I would love to be — Ennis beats him. Crawford at 39, after a long lay-off, giving away eight years to the sharpest fighter in the division, does not win that fight on genius alone.

Make no mistake, though: Boots deserves better than answering questions about a man who is not fighting. Give him a live opponent and let him prove it. Our full welterweight coverage is on the news page.

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