GREAT EXPECTATIONS
without being in the gym is five days. “I’m not the same person; I get surly when I’m away from the gym for long,” Boots admits. “I think that comes from loving it. Boxing is all I know. My inspirations were Pooh and Farah and guys like Roy Jones, Sugar Ray Leonard, Floyd Mayweather. No one today. Those guys did it right. I know it was a different time, but they did it right. No one was handed anything. I didn’t want to win the IBF title the way I did [when Terence Crawford vacated]. I wanted to earn it. I beat [Stanionis] for the [Ring/ WBA] title. I can say I finally earned it. I have nothing to prove at this point. I don’t care. All that matters is making my family and my team proud. “I train every day like
punches. He sometimes switches right to left as he punches, which can be dangerous in front of a gifted, quick- handed counterpuncher who can catch him squared up. Ennis is willing to take chances against inferior opponents and is willing to get hit cleanly with shots, particularly left hooks. With years of built-up muscle memory, Boots might be set in his ways. “There is no reason for Boots to give up his defense for his offense. He’s too good to take those risks, yet he does,” Bradley said. “Boots is a tremendous fighter, but for him to rise to a higher level, he needs to return to the fundamentals. My worry with him is: Can he box for 12 rounds against a tough, big boxer-puncher type and come out unscathed? At welterweight, Boots I don’t think dominates everyone. Brian Norman has power in both hands, and he does have a left hook. The fight everyone should want to see is Boots against a big left hook guy like Ryan Garcia. That’s the guy I want to see him face. Ryan, boxing-wise, does not have the skills to stay with Boots. What is special about Ryan, under the guidance of Derrick James, is he is using his right hand. If Ryan can continue to develop that, he can be special. “Boots leaves his lead hand down often when he’s in the southpaw stance. Ryan may be able to get him with the left hook, and he has speed to go along with that, too. Skill-wise, Boots can outbox Ryan, but can he do it without getting caught? Brian Norman has a left hook. Can Boots outbox him without getting caught for 12 rounds? Over the years, he has gotten away with things that have created bad habits. Boots is a special fighter, with special attributes, and a special work ethic, and his high boxing IQ can set anyone up from any side. Boots and his father may say that they don’t have a game plan, but they had a game plan for Stanionis.” That plan was to jab Stanionis, move laterally and set traps for uppercuts, and if Stanionis got too close, tie him up. Each time Stanionis did get close, Ennis made him pay with uppercuts as
the Lithuanian was repositioning. “It was easy work for Boots, which I saw coming,” Bradley said. “I respect Boots. I respect his father. I respect his game. He is a tremendous talent. But after one great performance … I get it, he looked special, but he makes mistakes – correctable mistakes, things he needs to do better going forward.” How far can Boots go? Right now, Ennis is still able to make 147 easily, he says. He was on weight the week of the Stanionis fight. He does want to fight one more time this year, the aim being September, possibly to capitalize on the media attention that will come with the Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles’ season opener. Stephen Espinoza, the former president of Showtime Sports, gave Boots his first large platform on Showtime Championship Boxing. He saw the signs in Ennis six years ago. “I would like to say I’m some genius with the gift of foresight, but the kid’s talent was pretty clear if you looked close enough,” Espinoza said. “He has the physical tools, the athleticism, the reflexes, the natural power and a wealth of experience with his dad and his brothers having literally grown up in the sport. You put all of that together and it’s as sure a bet [as any] in my boxing career. I think what held Boots back is that he is not a self-promoter. He comes from a humble family. He’s humble. Boots works hard in the gym, he doesn’t talk trash, and that kind of approach is not always rewarded. “The only person who can beat Boots is Boots. The only question right now is how big can Boots be. It’s almost heresy to say this: Boots can be a peak Roy Jones, when he was the best in the world. What vaulted Roy into mainstream superstardom was he had a network’s marketing machine behind him. That’s the one thing Boots doesn’t quite have yet, with due respect to everyone over on his current platform. He is not being marketed as much as his
skills and his abilities demand. That’s the only missing piece. Boots is doing everything asked of him and more. He just needs a bigger marketing platform to launch him into stardom.” Mora sees Ennis less as the next Jones than the next incarnation of the 37-year-old Terence “Bud” Crawford. If Crawford beats Canelo Alvarez in September, will we ever see the young lion test himself against the old lion? Ennis is tired of waiting for Crawford. He is tired of waiting for his “name” opponent. He has three belts. The way he sees it, everyone must come to him now that he holds the Ring Magazine 147-pound championship. “That Ring belt is huge for me. It’s historic. It recognizes the best,” Boots said. “I always wanted the Ring belt. Roy had it. Floyd had it. Now I have it. I’m the best in the world. I’m No. 1 pound-for-pound. I know the media may look at me as 11 or 12. I’m staying at 147, and I’ll move up naturally to 168, cleaning out every division as I go. That’s my goal. And I’m not going to dance for everyone and put on a show [outside the ring] to do it. “It’s not me. I’m not going to pretend to be someone else. I’ll let my talent do the talking. I see these guys talking and acting. I’m not putting on that mask. That’s not me. Why should I bash Stanionis? The guy came half around the world to fight me. His wife was having their first kid. To me, that’s admirable. Anyone who gets in the ring with me, I respect. They are taking a chance with their lives like I am. This is a serious game. It’s why I don’t act like a clown. It’s why I never get caught up in that social media shit. I love boxing. These guys fighting today fight for money. I fight because I love it. “Let’s see who the winner is in the end.” Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Follow him on X @JSantoliquito.
The uppercut continually pierced the guard and caused significant damage.
I’m training for a title. Two days after [Stanionis], where was I? I was shadowboxing 10, 12 rounds. If you want to call it an addiction, well, then it’s an addiction … a good addiction. The gym is a second home to me. It always will be. If I’m not training, I’m training other fighters. I don’t care who is next. I’m not worried about any of these other guys. These guys are supposed to be monsters – world- beaters. They have something to prove. I don’t. I know how good I am.” What makes Boots good? “Be like water making its way through cracks. Do not be assertive, but adjust to the object, and you shall find a way around or through it. If nothing within you stays rigid, outward things will disclose themselves.” – Bruce Lee. Or, as Sergio Mora put it ringside during his DAZN broadcast of the Ennis-Stanionis fight, Boots is “like Neo
from The Matrix in there.” Boots has no definitive style. Against Stanionis, he fought orthodox and as a southpaw. He boxed but also engaged with the now-former WBA titlist. He can take a punch, though he gets hit a little more than some might like. He has explosive hand speed. He is 5-foot- 10 with a 74-inch reach – rangy for a welterweight – possesses superior athleticism, a strong work ethic and an exceptionally high ring IQ. He is staunchly determined – when challenged by what he views as a worthy opponent – and creative. He can work angles and set traps for opponents. He has an array of punches he can use, from his piston- like jab to the uppercut body shots with which he was nailing Stanionis. Bozy and his youngest son are so invested in Boots’ ability and style that they never – that’s never – watch film of an opponent. Why should they, asks Bozy. “No one is going to beat Boots at his best. And he’s always at his best.”
“Boots is just more athletic than everybody, and I’m talking about everyone in boxing, even someone like Naoya Inoue, because Boots is more fluid,” said Hall of Famer and respected ESPN ringside analyst Tim Bradley. “He is like a boxing Kobe Bryant or Michael Jordan because of his combination of superior athleticism and his skills. Athleticism comes with a curse, though. Like Roy Jones Jr., you sometimes become dependent on your athleticism because you are so much better than everyone else. You can get away with mistakes, and eventually they will catch up with you. When you are that good, you are able to break a lot of rules.” Boots breaks rules. He crosses his feet. He drops his hands. He does rely on his athleticism to slip and elude
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