Is Bud effectively retired if Canelo won't give him a fight?

[crimsonfalcon07]

The way Pacquiao has been chasing fights, I could see that one happening. No way Mayweather comes out of retirement to fight someone as dangerous as Bud.

I'd prefer Jermell or the winner of Tszyu-Thurman to Ennis. Ennis is the kind of name that only is relevant to resume if he actually builds a name for himself later, and he's just not active enough or trying to get fights against the other current top contenders at 147, so there's a good chance that he fades into irrelevance from inactivity and mismanagement. Vergil Ortiz Jr at 154 would be just as good IMO. Ennis right now is in the same position that Benavidez was before the Plant fight, maybe worse because Benavidez had actually been champ twice by then, and not by email.

Ennis is really all hype to me right now. He could have fought Thurman himself. Or Stanionis, or Ortiz Jr, or even Rocha, or Barrios or Ugas. He's having to be ordered to fight Crowley. He looks like the goods, but he's got a clear pattern at this point of avoiding top fights. Just get in the ring and fight a guy with a pulse already.

[SUBZER0ED]

Nah I think he’ll take a fight at 154. Tszyu-Thurman winner would be a good option.

I understand being diplomatic and all, but do you think Thurman actually has a chance to beat Tszyu?

[SUBZER0ED]

Judging from Bud's own words after beating Spence, @ 36 years of age, he's only looking for the biggest fights.

[rickJen]

I'm more interested in the mechanics of how a fight with Bud can be made.
We can all talk about who he should face, but the details are always in the devil, it seems.
He's a free agent and his last 2 fights were arranged by BLK, then Showtime.
If Ennis, who is also a free agent, is interested, why is he not reaching out to BLK?
Or DAZN, PBC, ESPN, ProBox, etc. Why expect Crawford to work his ass off to make the Ennis fight?

[billeau2]

Bud is yet another victim of a non-sequitor affecting many elite fighters these days. His status as a fighter versus his ability to put fans in seats.

These guys don't really get they have one go around. So bud is content to wait instead of challenging himself for the sake of legacy.

If bud were to fight boots there's a good chance when boots ascends their fight would have historical significance. Boots is very talented and will probably do very well.

Bud has a chance to beat him much as Jones managed to beat Hopkins at an earlier time. But again, the thinking these days is for that one big money fight. Legacy? Wat dat?

[rickJen]

Why are people dismissing BLK Prime which successfully made the Avanesyan/Crawford fight?
Which do you expect to make Bud/Boots fight happen? It's not PBC, ESPN, DAZN...
Boots fans should be contacting BLK non-stop if they're really interested. At leas just to keep the ball rolling.

[brettWall]

Why are people dismissing BLK Prime which successfully made the Avanesyan/Crawford fight?
Which do you expect to make Bud/Boots fight happen? It's not PBC, ESPN, DAZN...
Boots fans should be contacting BLK non-stop if they're really interested. At leas just to keep the ball rolling.

I think people are just content in talking, complaining, playing blame games, instead of actually doing something. It takes seconds to contact any promotional company with all the communication devices at your finger tips. No one bothers to do it. They just want to talk, complain, find fault. I want to see Bud fight Boots myself, but nothing is being done about it. Not the Boots camp. They just want to talk, complain, play blame games. That's all they want to do.

[rickJen]

I think people are just content in talking, complaining, playing blame games, instead of actually doing something. It takes seconds to contact any promotional company with all the communication devices at your finger tips. No one bothers to do it. They just want to talk, complain, find fault. I want to see Bud fight Boots myself, but nothing is being done about it. Not the Boots camp. They just want to talk, complain, play blame games. That's all they want to do.

They won't even try. Now I know it might be far-fetched to lure Bud into fighting Boots but why not try?
Last time he got bored waiting for the Spence fight to materialize, BLK offer came, he took it.
Same thing might happen here. Why not try?

[brettWall]

They won't even try. Now I know it might be far-fetched to lure Bud into fighting Boots but why not try?
Last time he got bored waiting for the Spence fight to materialize, BLK offer came, he took it.
Same thing might happen here. Why not try?

Well, at least you and I talk about how the fight can be made, instead of just finding fault.

[crimsonfalcon07]

I'm more interested in the mechanics of how a fight with Bud can be made.
We can all talk about who he should face, but the details are always in the devil, it seems.
He's a free agent and his last 2 fights were arranged by BLK, then Showtime.
If Ennis, who is also a free agent, is interested, why is he not reaching out to BLK?
Or DAZN, PBC, ESPN, ProBox, etc. Why expect Crawford to work his ass off to make the Ennis fight?

Because he's not actually interested. He's just using Bud's name for clout without actually fighting anyone.

Look at his history. He was the #2 ranked contender with the WBO in 2022, after Vergil Ortiz Jr. At that point Spence v Bud wasn't looking like it would be made. Ennis chose to avoid both Ortiz and Bud to take on Custio Clayton on the IBF route, in May 2022.

He then had until the end of March 2023 before talks for Spence v Bud restarted. Didn't get the IBF to order his fight with Spence, and instead fought Karen Chukadzian in January 2023. Had months after that to petition the IBF to fight Spence. IBF had only ordered ONE mandatory in 4 years, and they're generally good about following their rules. Apparently he didn't petition the IBF at all until Oct 2022, when Stanionis was petitioning for HIS shot v Spence. Then after Bud became champion, he waited until Spence said he was activating his rematch clause to petition IBF again. Didn't call out Bud until that rematch clause came into play. Didn't go to the fight to call out the winner.

Since then, he hasn't called out Stanionis or Ortiz. Had to be ordered to face Crowley, and was going for a guy who lost to a guy whose best claims are at 130lb. Stanionis would have fought him. Didn't aim for Ugas, is avoiding Connor Benn, and wouldn't fight Avanesyan either. No offers to Thurman or Butaev. That's Ring 2022 top 10.

As near as I can tell, he's spent years avoiding anyone actually top ranked.

The fight isn't getting actively chased for the same reason he hasn't really pursued a fight with ANYONE who could reasonably be expected to fight him in the top 10 for the last 2 years.