The welterweight division has a hotly-tipped new star but Oscar De La Hoya thinks he knows two men who could beat him.
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis has been making waves in the ring for a few years now and this past weekend he once again impressed. This time he was making history by fighting at home at the Wells Fargo Center in front of the biggest boxing crowd Philadelphia has seen in many decades.
The fight against former European champion David Avanesyan was in defence of his IBF belt and in the fifth round ‘Boots’ scored his first knockdown. Before the start of the sixth round, the contest was stopped on the advice of the ringside doctor.
Ennis, 27, improved to 32-0 and proved once again he is one of the sport’s rising stars, although Terrence Crawford may not see it that way.
In the wake of the fight, Turki Alalshikh, the man behind big time boxing in Saudi Arabia, announced he had reached out to congratulate ‘Boots’ on the win and said he would love to see him in a fight with former undisputed welterweight king Crawford at 154.
Oscar De La Hoya reacted stating that both Crawford and his man, Virgil Ortiz, would ‘destroy’ Ennis.
“Please, @terrencecrawford and @virgilortiz will destroy Boots haha.”
Please. @terencecrawford and @VergilOrtiz will destroy Boots haha
— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) July 14, 2024
Crawford has his first fight up at 154 in August when he takes on WBA champion Israil Madrimov, while Ortiz, who has knocked out all of his 21 opponents so far, fights Seri Bohachuk for the interim WBC world super welterweight title in October.
