Jaron Ennis has warned Terence Crawford that he has what it takes to beat him and believes his compatriot will bring out the best in him if they fight.

Crawford and Ennis have been trending towards each other ever since the latter became the IBF welterweight champion, and many believe the shunned Philadelphia fighter has the best chance of beating him.

“Boots” will defend his IBF world title for the first time when he fights David Avanesyan on July 13 at the Wells Fargo Center in his hometown, his first fight since signing with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing organization.

Crawford will move up to super welterweight to challenge WBA world champion Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles, and Ennis says he is a better fighter than arguably the best non-weight contender in the sport.

“Whatever he thinks he can do, I can do better,” the 27-year-old said The One and Only Kayla.

“I am shrewd and pointed.

“When I fight someone who is better, I become better too, and people don’t understand that.

“When you compete with better competition and better people, it makes you smarter, it makes you better, it makes you think, it allows you to go to the next level.

“Fighting might be easier than you think or what other people think because I know what I’m going to do.”

“Boots” was supposed to defend his belt against Cody Crowley, but the 31-year-old was forced withdraw due to eye injury.

Former WBA welterweight world champion Avanesyan was stopped by Crawford in December 2022 and despite the 35-year-old having a completely different fighting style to Crowley, Ennis insists the change of opponent has not affected his preparation.

“It really wasn’t a substantial change,” he added.

“As you know, Crowley is left-handed and Avanesyan is Orthodox.

“But when I’m at camp, I have both styles.

“I have left-handers and right-handers [fighters] in the camp, so it’s not really a substantial change.”

Tyson Fury’s brother Shane Fury has said he hopes the rematch with Oleksandr Usyk will be his last fight.

Fury will be looking to avenge his only loss to Usyk when he faces the Ukrainian for a second time on December 21 in Saudi Arabia.

The ‘Gypsy King’ will be 36 when he returns to the ring, although he is tempted by a long-awaited all-British clash. Anthony Joshua potentially in the works, Shane admits he doesn’t want his brother to box after the rematch.

“I think with the right instruction and the right preparation Tyson can do it,” Fury said IFLTV.

“But it won’t be straightforward at all, it’s number one and two fighting and I hope they manage to win.

“It doesn’t matter if he wins, loses or draws, if he stops him in a round and looks great, or stops him in six rounds and looks great, or loses or draws in a great fight, as a brother I want him to say, ‘See you later in the boxing,’ because that’s all you can do.”

“God willing, if he fights a good fight, and both men shake hands, and both men come out of it fit and forceful, he can spend the money he earned, look back on his career and think, wow!

“Not many people, if any, can appreciate that when you look at the statistics, what happened and what he did.”

Usyk became the undisputed heavyweight champion by defeating Fury on points on May 18, but later vacated the IBF belt, which will be fought for by Daniel Dubois and Joshua at Wembley Stadium on September 21.

Fury endured a disastrous ninth round, with many feeling he was given too much instruction, with head trainer SugarHill Steward, former middleweight world champion Andy Lee and father John Fury all in his corner. Shane feels the same way.

“I agree 100%,” he added.

“My dad wants the best for his sons, and the best thing for his son, after being beaten and almost knocked out, is to facilitate him survive the fight, fuck boxing.

“You can get knocked out and not wake up.

“It’s his mentality because he wants the best for his sons, but sometimes when you want the best for someone, it’s not the best instructions.”

Shining Edwards survived a horrific cut to win a comeback fight against Adrian Curiel after losing the IBF Flyweight title to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez last December. The 28-year-old Briton slid around the squared circle, hitting Curiel with a string of punches as his opponent struggled to land.

The pair clashed heads, however, ending with a nasty uppercut from Edwards. The fight continued for a while, but was eventually stopped when the doctor advised the referee to stop the fight early. A technical decision was then made, which Edwards won unanimously by scores of 90-82, 88-84, and 87-85.

The scorecards were surprisingly close, with Edwards in control of the fight, and the Phoenix crowd wasn’t cheerful either, with boos audible from the Footprint Center. “I don’t know if the audience realizes what happened there.

“The doctor stopped the cut, I haven’t made a decision, I’m more nervous than any of the 10,000 fans here. I thought I had a clear advantage and I thought my opponent was slowing down. I thought I would get him out of there or win completely in the end.

“Twice in a row I managed to leave Arizona uglier than I arrived, so I want to apologize to the fans who took it personally, but I had nothing to do with the referee stopping it. Maybe I’ll come back and fight Curiel again, I don’t know what the fans want.”

Galal Yafai is one of the fighters hoping to face Edwards. Yafai was on the Rodriguez-Edwards undercard last December. “I expect to fight him next time,” he said.

“I think, ‘Yes, we will keep fighting,’ and if it doesn’t happen, then no. I’ll go further. If so, I’m here [already] expecting this. We’ll see what happens – we’ll see how he does.

“We are trying to make this fight next. It all depends on how he handles it. We’re trying to work it out, but it’s nothing set in stone. We see how much they will offer. From the way he talks, it sounds like he already got an offer.

“He would have a three-fight deal or something like that, so they’d say you get X amount, but my contract was three years, so it’s a fight-by-fight deal. ‘You’re going to fight this person; you’re going to fight this person.’

“We still haven’t resolved the matter yet, but we have had a few words with her [Matchroom chief executive] Frank Smith and the band, so we just get through it.