Terence Crawford and Jaron Ennis traded words over a potential fight and Ennis’ plans at 154 pounds during the broadcast of Damian Knyba’s win over Andy Ruiz Jr.
Crawford told Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs) that he would give him full credit for beating WBC champion Sebastian Fundora or unbeaten Vergil Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs), while questioning why the Ortiz fight has not happened yet.
“If you would have fought Vergil, we would have seen if you would have stepped up,” Crawford said. He added that Ortiz is “tailormade” for Ennis stylistically but argued that Ennis has not yet proven himself against that type of opponent.
Ennis said his immediate focus is a unification fight with IBF champion Josh Kelly before the end of the year. He also said a future Ortiz fight remains one of the biggest matchups available, although Ortiz is expected to move to middleweight for his next appearance.
The pair also exchanged words about how a Crawford-Ennis fight would have played out. Ennis claimed Crawford would have been “easy work,” while Crawford referenced moments in Ennis’ recent fights and warned him about what would have happened if they had met.
Ennis, who stopped Xander Zayas in the seventh round to become WBA and WBO junior middleweight champion, reiterated that his main goal is undisputed status at 154 pounds. “I want my legacy stamped in this boxing game,” he said.
Image Credit: BBC