Bob Arum has highlighted one of Terence Crawford’s greatest attributes, questioning whether Jaron Ennis would have the wizardry to overcome it.
Despite hanging up his gloves in December, ‘Bud’ has been repeatedly mentioned as a potential opponent for Ennis, who comes off a career-best victory over Xander Zayas.
The 29-year-old was considered a clear favourite heading into their showdown last weekend, yet it was nonetheless an awe-inspiring performance as he scored three knockdowns en route to a seventh-round stoppage victory.
As a result, ‘Boots’ became a two-division unified champion by claiming the WBO and WBA super-welterweight titles, dethroning one of the flagship fighters at 154lbs.
Against Crawford, however, many believe that Ennis would enjoy comparatively meagre success, even with the 38-year-old having seemingly settled into retirement.
The American’s last outing saw him dethrone Canelo Alvarez in September, becoming a three-division undisputed champion by scoring a unanimous decision victory at 168lbs.
‘Bud’ was arguably most effective at 147lbs, though, as suggested by his surprisingly one-sided ninth-round stoppage victory over Errol Spence Jr in July 2023.
While considering this performance, in particular, Top Rank promoter Arum told FightHype that he wonders how Ennis would compete with Crawford’s switch-hitting style.
“Crawford is an awfully good fighter, and it would take a real wizard to beat him. Crawford has something that no other fighter around has … He fights equally well as a southpaw and a right-hander.
“Usually, the fighter he’s fighting trains for him as an orthodox fighter – and so, from the first round, he’ll turn southpaw, and the guy isn’t ready for him. That’s what beat Spence.”
While Crawford is more accomplished, as a former five-division world champion, Ennis has also proven to be equally effective when fighting out of the orthodox and southpaw stances.
