Trainer Greg Hackett says Jermell Charlo will be “one of the best fights” for Jaron “Boots” Ennis. As he himself put it: “chess at a high level.”
$10 million or nothing from Jermell
Ennis’ promoter Eddie Hearn has already ruled out Jermell (35-2-1, 19 KO), predicting he will price himself out. The 35-year-old Charlo has already said that the starting price for a fight with “Boots” Ennis (35-0, 31 KO) or Terence Crawford will be $10 million.
Even “Boots” Ennis doesn’t make that kind of money. The asking price for the gray Jermell is immediately unacceptable. He can also forget about Crawford because he won’t be interested. This is a fight that will bomb the PPV, lose a lot of money and put Hearn in the hole for wasting his time.
Jermell was never a PPV attraction, even when he was still an lively competitor. Now, after two years of enjoying the money he made following his lopsided loss to Canelo Alvarez, he will be even less attractive on PPV.
A fight between “Boots” and inactive former undisputed junior middleweight champion Jermell Charlo would have to be heavily sold on DAZN PPV to cover the large bucks. The success of this event will depend on older fans, not younger ones.
Why Ennis-Charlo won’t sell on DAZN
Younger fans have no idea who Jermell is because he hasn’t fought in ages and has never beaten any significant fighter in his career other than Erickson Lubin early in his career.
“That’s why people love the Charlos, because they’re willing to challenge themselves. That’s what boxing is all about,” said coach Greg Hackett MillCity Boxingwhen asked for his thoughts on Jermell Charlo calling out Terence Crawford and Jaron “Boots” Ennis.
When have Jermall and Jermell challenged themselves in the last two years? Jermell has not fought since receiving a large payday following a one-sided loss to Canelo Alvarez on September 30, 2023. Jermell’s last four fights have been against these fighters: Thomas LaManna, Jose Benavidez Jr., Juan Macías Montiel and Sergiy Derevyanchenko. How is Jermall changing?
Charlo has to earn his chance at Boots
“You’ve got to go in there and see who’s the best, and that’s what he’s trying to do,” Hackett said of Jermell.
Before Charlo gets a fight with “Boots,” he should prove himself against some 154-pounders, such as two or three of these fighters:
- Israil Madrimov
- Brandon Adams
- Erickson Lubin: *rematch
- Jesus Ramos
- Yoenis Tellez
It is highly doubtful that Charlo could have beaten any of these fighters, even the recently defeated Cuban Tellez. A rematch with Lubin would be engaging, as Jermell knocked out the then 22-year-old Lubin on October 14, 2017. Now that Erickson is 30 years elderly and much more experienced, it would be engaging to see how Charlo handles him after a two-year layoff.
“Jermell Charlo will be one of the best fights for ‘Boots.’ This will be chess at a high level. Charlo will have to tame “The Boot,” Hackett said.
The last word
A fight against Jermell Charlo would be terrible for Ennis because it would reinforce the idea that he doesn’t want to take risks in his career. Charlo would be a step down for Ennis from his last defeated opponent, Uisma Lima. The boxing public would ridicule him for fighting the inactive 35-year-old Jermell, who was only coming back for a payday.
An Ennis vs. Jermell fight would be a complete mismatch and would be dead on arrival (DOA) in terms of pay-per-view purchases on DAZN. The problem is that Charlo, 35, has been too inactive for younger boxing fans to know who he is. They are the ones driving the sport now, not the older guys who know better than to throw money at a fight involving Jermell and Ennis.
They saw that in the Canelo Alvarez fight he only came for the paycheck and that as of 2022 he had not won a fight in three years. Jermell was never that good of a player, even when he was at his best. He took advantage of a tender period at 154 when the division was compact on talent. Jermell’s defeat to Tony Harrison and his 12-round draw with Brian Castano showed how indigent his skills were.
Hearn told professional boxing fans that Jermell would “price himself right away” to fight Ennis. He apparently heard the $10 million price demand that Jermell Charlo made in a recent interview about what he would like to fight Ennis or Terence Crawford.
The money will go towards the football part of the fight against Ennis. This would require the involvement of Turki Alalshikh, and he will likely not participate in this type of fight.
Turki knew after watching Jermell’s last fight two years ago, a one-sided 12-round unanimous decision loss to Canelo Alvarez on September 30, 2023, that he was just coming for the payday. Charlo will make no effort to win.
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