After training and nurturing his son for the big stage, Derek “Bozy” Ennis, trainer and father of highly ranked contender, Jaron "Boots" Ennis, believes that the time is now.
Much to his delight, Jaron may have backed current unified champion, Errol Spence Jr., into a corner. On January 7th, at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C., Jaron will look to capture his first piece of a world title when he takes on Karen Chukhadzhian. On the line, the winner will be awarded the IBF interim crown.
As team Ennis continues to iron out the kinks in their overall game, Bozy is convinced that Spence will have no choice but to face his son in the immediate future. The powerful and crafty southpaw, however, has appeared lukewarm to the idea. While he isn’t eschewing the 25-year-old switch-hitter, Spence remains focused on facing Terence Crawford for a chance at undisputed glory.
Of course, a deal between the two seemed to be essentially signed, sealed, and delivered before Crawford opted to go in another direction, stopping fringe contender David Avanesyan on December 10th.
As Spence sifts through countless notable names in search of a formidable foe, team Ennis has continued to offer up their services. While they remain hopeful that Spence will elect to face them, considering that Jaron is still in the infancy stages of his career, it remains incredibly unlikely that Spence will give the switch-hitting contender a shot at his unified crown.
Although he’s displeased with Spence’s reluctance, Bozy refrains from placing the duck label on the unified champion. While he hates to admit it, Bozy understands what’s taking place behind the scenes. With several highlight-reel-worthy knockouts under his belt, including a second-round destruction over Custio Clayton earlier this year, Bozy is well aware that the monetary gain, or lack thereof, his son provides, will do little to entice Spence or any of the top contenders, to slide a contract across their desk.
“Spence is not scared, it's business,” said Bozy to BoxingScene.com. “Boots is high-risk, low reward.”