Jaron Ennis is the man filling the void left at welterweight after Terence Crawford moved up to 154lbs.
In what was billed by many as a 50/50 contest before the first bell, ‘Bud’ dominated from the start and stopped his man in the ninth round after securing three punishing knockdowns.
After Spence decided to swerve his contractual rematch option, Crawford moved straight to super-welterweight and became WBA champion on his debut when he defeated Israil Madrimov after a close twelve rounds.
With Spence and Crawford no longer plying their trade at 147, Ennis is now the man to beat. The IBF World Champion is one of the rising stars of the sport and boasts an incredible record of 29 knockouts from his 32 victories. He is yet to taste defeat.
After the Spence victory, top trainer Robert Garcia, who is in the corner of fighters such as Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez and Vergil Ortiz, told ES NEWS that Crawford would take the win if the two were to meet.
“It’s a good fight but I think Crawford, at 147 he’s the man.”
And in another interview Garcia admitted that Ennis might be more talented but said Crawford is proven at the top level.
“Because of the experience and everything I would pick Crawford, but Ennis is a bad motherf***er. Crawford is already proven, he’s already had some great fights, so I would say Crawford because of the experience but talent wise maybe Ennis is better.”
The fight looks a long way off with reports suggesting Crawford will only return to the ring if he can take on super-middleweight unified champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez.
