Terence Crawford’s trainer, Brian “BoMac” McIntyre, has rejected the possibility of the newly crowned undisputed 168-pound champion fighting Jaron “Boots” Ennis next. He claims Ennis had the opportunity to fight Crawford to make “good money” but declined to do so. This fight is no longer offered to “Boots.”
“BoMac” sounded defensive, repeatedly dismissing Ennis as a potential next opponent for Crawford’s fight. He made it clear that the teenage phenom was not an option for Bud.
Crawford shoots
McIntyre says Crawford (42-0, 31 KO) deserved the right “Do What He Wants” following his 12-round unanimous decision victory over Mexican star Canelo Alvarez last month on September 13.
The 28-year-old Ennis would be a risky fight for Crawford, as the Philadelphia native recently looked like pure gold, destroying Uisam Lima in one round earlier this month on October 11. Ennis’s hand speed, punch combination and youth would be a brew of evil witches for Crawford to deal with.
The Omaha, Nebraska native didn’t have it effortless in his last fight against the flat-legged, under-recorded 35-year-old Canelo. He doesn’t throw combinations and lacks the mobility of teenage Ennis.
I’m waiting for Canelo
“BoMac” doesn’t say who Crawford will fight next, but makes it clear that it won’t be the undefeated “Boots” Ennis (35-0, 31 KO). Crawford is believed to be waiting for Canelo’s left elbow to heal from recent surgery. This is Terence’s biggest payday. As you might expect, this is the fight he will be targeting in his next fight, provided there is interest from Alvarez.
There is a possibility that Crawford could move up to middleweight to challenge one of the champions. However, given the risk involved with the 38-year-old, he may wait to fight Canelo.
“What else does Bud have to prove in the game? He gave these guys a chance and they blew it,” coach Brian “BoMac” McIntyre said The voice of Thaboxingrejecting the suggestion that Terence Crawford should fight Jaron “Boots” Ennis next.
If Crawford sits and waits for Canelo, he could remain on the sidelines until mid-2026. This is the timeline for when the Mexican star will recover and be ready to fight again after surgery on his left elbow. Alvarez will have to let Terence know if he will take the rematch so he can sit idly by and wait for the opportunity to make his second massive payday.
Crawford earned $50 million for the fight, which aired on September 13 on Netflix. In the rematch, he would likely expect a boost well above that number. Turki Alalshikh has not yet mentioned whether he is interested in financing a second fight between the two. He recently asked if David Benavidez could go down to 168 pounds.
Benavidez rejected again
This was a gigantic hint that he was interested in a fight between him and Crawford. However, Terence and “BoMac” rejected the idea of fighting “Mexican Monster” Benavidez, which was compelling. This refusal on their part does not sit well with Crawford’s claim that he is on the Rushmore of boxing as one of the top 4 fighters of all time.
Newborn Lions Excluded
“Boots” had a chance to earn good money. He had a chance to fight Bud, but he passed it up. Vergil Ortiz had his chance. Now you want to give him another chance. To hell with him,” said “BoMac” McIntyre.
As you can see, “BoMac” is not interested in Crawford fighting the teenage “Boots” Ennis or the threatening Vergil Ortiz Jr. This is understandable considering the huge payday Terence would be risking in a rematch with Canelo. If he lost to one of these top-tier teenage predators, it would hurt his chances of a lucrative rematch with Alvarez.
BoMac sounds like a general, strategic, and considering the chances of putting his aging, battle-weary soldiers into confrontation with fresh enemy troops.
BoMac says Crawford deserved the fight so much that “he can do whatever he wants. He can do whatever he wants. He could fight whoever he wants.”
Tom Galm has been lively on the global boxing scene since 2014, specializing in heavyweight analysis, business trends and fighter psychology.
Top trainer and former world champion Robert Garcia has considered the outcome of a fantasy showdown between Terence Crawford and Manny Pacquiao.
The two generational greats reportedly came close to squaring off in 2021, back when Crawford was the WBO welterweight champion and ‘Pac Man’ held the WBA title.
Their unification match never materialised, though, as Pacquiao was scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr before ‘The Truth’ pulled out with a torn retina.
Instead, the Filipino legend ended up losing his WBA title to Yordenis Ugas at a stage when, while still serviceable, he was quite clearly past his best.
Crawford, meanwhile, was hitting top form around this time, just a few fights away from producing arguably a career-best performance against Spence.
He did, of course, manage to stop his welterweight rival in nine rounds, before moving up to 168lbs and becoming a three-division undisputed champion by dethroning Canelo Alvarez last September.
Based on those two performances, coach Garcia has told ESNEWS that he would favour ‘Bud’ to defeat even a prime version of Pacquiao.
“The Crawford that beat Spence – and the Crawford that beat Canelo – would probably beat Manny.”
While Crawford’s prime almost certainly came during his run of eight stoppages at welterweight, it is harder to pinpoint when Pacquiao ultimately reached his peak.
In terms of his most destructive performance at world level, however, many will point towards his second-round finish over Ricky Hatton in 2009.
While facing the ‘Hitman’ at 140lbs, Pacquiao would cement himself as a formidable welterweight champion soon after, dethroning Miguel Cotto with a 12th-round stoppage for the WBO title.
Former world champion Oleksandr Gvozdyk has been left between a rock and a hard place afterhis promotional contract with Zuffa Boxing has been terminated.
The Ukrainian dethroned long-reigning light-heavyweight champion Adonis Stevenson in 2018, scoring an 11th-round stoppage that left his opponent with a brain injury.
Gvozdyk then made a WBC title defence before losing to Artur Beterbievwho extended his ruthless surge with a 10th-round finish in their 2019 encounter.
Since that defeat, ‘The Nail’ suffered a unanimous decision loss to David Benavidez in 2024, before entering a perceived 50/50 contest against Radivoje ‘Hot Rod’ Kalajdzic in February.
With both making their Zuffa debut, the two veterans delivered a thrilling battle in which Gvozdyk scored two knockdowns and had built a sizable lead.
In round seven, though, the 39-year-old found himself on the canvas and was ultimately stopped on his feet after getting dropped a second time.
Given his overall performance, one would suspect he had done enough to justify another meaningful opportunity, yet Gvozdyk has since told vRINGe that he will no longer be fighting under the Zuffa banner.
“They terminated the contract in February after a loss. That is, every promoter has the option that if a boxer loses, they have the right to terminate the contract. That’s exactly what they did. After the fight, everyone was saying how great it was. That everything was great. I rested. I started preparing as planned – somewhere around May. And then, around April, they told me I’d received an email terminating the contract.”
This is because his contract has been terminated, while Kalajdzic’s next outing with Dana White’s promotional outfit is confirmed for September 26 against Craig Richards.
As for Gvozdyk, it is difficult to predict what will come next but, at the age of 39, one would suspect that he is close to hanging up the gloves.
Still, he could hardly have been happy to part ways with Zuffa, which also terminated its contract with Robert Meriwether following his defeat to Tony Hirsch Jr in April.
Former British champion and Olympic bronze medallist David Price has assessed whether his countryman, Conor Bennpossesses the necessary hand speed to defeat Ryan Garcia.
The two welterweights will square off at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on September 12, with Garcia making a first defence of his WBC world title.
It was arguably a career-best performance that saw him dethrone Mario Barrios in February, scoring a first-round knockdown before winning a wide unanimous decision.
But despite coming off this dominant display, Garcia was far less impressive when he returned from a year-long doping ban and lost on points to Rolando Romero in May 2025.
Still, many would argue that the 28-year-old has shown signs of world-class quality, while Benn remains glaringly unproven at the top level.
The 29-year-old has also not fought at 147lbs since 2022, with his last two outings resulting in unanimous decision victories over faded versions of Chris Eubank Jr and Regis Prograis.
Against Eubank, in particular, Benn’s speed seemed a key factor in their two middleweight encounters last year, despite him suffering a points defeat the first time around.
As he approaches this welterweight contest against Garcia, though, former heavyweight contender Price has told The Smith Brothers that he sees Benn contending with an unfamiliar disadvantage.
“I think I [favour Garcia]. Conor Benn’s got great hand speed, but I think [Garcia’s] hand speed could make the difference in the fight.”
Like Garcia, Benn tested positive for a banned substance – clomifene – and was eventually removed from his cancelled 2022 encounter with Eubank.
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