Jaron “Boots” Ennis says four world champions have turned down fights with him

IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis is pursuing greatness with admirable urgency.

He's back in action Saturday night in a rematch with Karen Chukhadzhian at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. Some believe the rematch is unnecessary considering Boots ruled out Chukhadzian in their first meeting in November 2023.

Still, Ennis didn't have an easy time competing against the more prominent names in his weight region.

The 27-year-old Philadelphia native may be the most avoided fighter in the welterweight division. Ennis fought pound-for-pound contender Terence Crawford for over a year, but Bud declined as the two men were at different points in their careers.

Crawford isn't afraid of anyone, but he chases the highest-profile names and paydays like a fight with Canelo Alvarez. At this point in Ennis and Crawford's careers, the fight makes no sense for the latter and he is the A-side.

I spoke to Ennis as he was preparing for the fight with Chukhadzian and he told me that he was no longer interested in a fight with Crawford, but he also mentioned that Bud wasn't the only former world champion who had offers, to fight him, refused.

“He wasn’t the only one I wanted to fight,” Ennis told me during an exclusive interview. “I tried to fight him. I once tried to fight Errol Spence, Keith Thurman and Shawn Porter. I tried to fight all these guys at the top. That was my goal. This is how I wanted to make a name for myself. But things turned out differently. It was out of my hands, so it is what it is. I’ll still be great.”

Here's a look at that section of the interview.

Ennis is as ambitious and talented as you'll find in the sport among fighters of his age group. He's looking for the signature win to take him to the next level. At 32-0 with 29 KOs, Ennis has the record and KO rate of a top pound-for-pound fighter.

However, neither ESPN nor The Ring Magazine currently rank him among the ten best fighters in the world, regardless of weight class. The reason for the omission is not disrespect. I think everyone knows Ennis is a first class talent. However, at this point in his career, he has not beaten the competition needed to reach that level.

That's why his unsuccessful attempts to fight the likes of Crawford, Spence, Porter and Thurman make things all the more frustrating. If Ennis beats Chukhadzian again, he probably still won't get the respect and recognition he probably deserves.

However, this was necessary because the Ukrainian became the mandatory challenger. One problem for Ennis is that his rise came during a rare lull for the welterweight division. Typically, you'll find a group of true pound-for-pound competitors in the weight class.

For years, Crawford, Spence, Porter and Thurman were considered the class of the division. They had replaced Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. No one had to carry the division alone. Ennis is by far the most popular 147-pound champion, followed by Brian Norman of the WBO, Mario Barrios of the WBC and Eimantas Stanionis of the WBA.

Norman and Ennis worked on a unification fight, but the matter fell through. There are different views as to why the talks failed, but if this fight had taken place there would probably not be a rematch between Ennis and Chukhadzian. In their first meeting, Chukhadzian managed to go the distance with Ennis.

Only two other fighters Boots has competed against can make that claim. Chukhadzian also managed to stop Boots from making it a showcase fight. In the rematch, both men will look to improve on their performance from the first fight. If Chukhadzian could survive again and have more success, he would have increased his stock. If he somehow pulls off the big surprise, his career will skyrocket.

If Ennis destroys Chukhadzian and finishes, he could make one of the loudest statements of the martial arts weekend. Perhaps this will set up the meeting between him and Norman that could become the division's biggest battle. At some point Ennis will get the stage he longs for. In the meantime, he has to take care of the business that is expected of him.

The journey continues on Saturday.