Jaron “Boots” Ennis wanted to become champion the proper way, by actually using his fists, says his father.

After being the top-rated 147-pound contender for some time, Philadelphia’s Ennis became a proper titlist in November when the IBF stripped then undisputed champion Terence Crawford of his belt because he was unable to comply with a mandatory defense. Crawford is set to enter a contractually-mandated rematch with Errol Spence Jr. next year.

"Winning" a title by fiat, of course, is hardly the way boxing fans want to see the sport  play out, something that Ennis’ father and trainer, Bozey Ennis, agreed was not ideal. Fighters who become champions via bureaucracy are often lampooned, in the current parlance, as “email champs.”

The elder Ennis, however, said there was nothing they could do short of forcing Crawford to a fight. Bozey Ennis added that the way in which his son became champion is why they have largely refrained from expressing undue enthusiasm about their current status.

“Spence didn’t want to fight Boots (when Spence was champion), so we let them fight and the winner of that was supposed to fight Boots and that was Crawford,” the elder Ennis told BoxingScene.com. “We talked about that, but Crawford didn’t want to fight Boots because he (Crawford) can’t make no money. But he fought [David] Avanesyan (last year) and Boots is way more known than Avanesyan.

“We didn’t want it that way. We wanted to fight for it (the title). That’s why you don’t see us hootin’ and hollerin’. We wanted to fight for it. For two years we wanted it.”

Bozey Ennis took issue with Crawford recently suggesting that Ennis was “cool with being” an “email champion.”

“Someone was saying that Terence was saying that they gave him (Ennis) the title, but we wanted to fight you,” the elder Ennis continued. “We wanted to fight you and you had the nerve to say that we got the title that way. Nah, we’ve been in line.”

Crawford, for his part, has made it clear he is only interested in fights with outsize box office appeal at this point in his career, including one with undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez.

It is not immediately clear what Ennis’ next steps will be, but his father insisted they are receiving guidance from outgoing Showtime Boxing head Stephen Espinoza. Showtime, which broadcasted Ennis’ last several fights, will no longer showcase the sport after the end of this month. Espinoza has hinted that he could remain in some kind of role in boxing. 

Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions, a longtime exclusive content partner for Showtime, announced last week its new rights deal with Amazon Prime Video starting next year. When asked if his son might appear on that streaming platform, the elder Ennis declined to say.

“All I can tell you is that we in good hands,” Bozey Ennis said. “We go wherever Espinoza goes. We good—we set up for next year.”

Sean Nam is the author of Murder on Federal Street: Tyrone Everett, the Black Mafia, and the Last Golden Age of Philadelphia Boxing.