Conor Benn says no one knows who IBF light heavyweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is in England because he has no “personality”.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)
Highly ranked undefeated Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) says he doesn’t look at Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) when “big names” are mentioned because he is well known in the UK.
Ennis’ lack of charisma
Benn, 28, does rate Boots as an outstanding fighter at 147, second only to Terence Crawford, but his lack of charisma and personality make him unworthy of the fight.
He is unwanted. Jaron’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, apparently did got a heavy load trying to promote the Philly native with his dull, flat, uninspiring persona. Hearn can’t do it alone. He needs to build his brand, but it’s not happening.
Ennis doesn’t seem to understand that boxing is an entertainment business, and you have to be able to keep people interested outside the ring. Look at Tyson Fury. He’s not much of a talent and has a barren resume, but he’s made an absolute fortune thanks to his clownish persona.
He got the boots to himself; otherwise, he’s not worth Hearn keeping in his matchday squad. Eddie is great at cheering fighters on, but he can’t do that if they’re only in the flesh just promoting their fights.
Ennis doesn’t do the public relations (PR) work he needs to do outside the ring, doing interviews, posting on social media, and creating characters. He needs a gimmick to sell himself to the public, but nothing seems to work to create one.
Jaron’s missed opportunity
Boots recently turned down a huge fight offer to move up to 154 to challenge Virgil Ortiz Jr. for his interim WBC title at the Riyadh event in Riyadh on February 22. It’s the worst possible career move Ennis could have made.
“Who knows who Boots is?” I walked around Philly and Miami. Everyone knows the name Benn in the states. Ennis is coming to England, nobody knows who he is,” Conor Benn told Fight Hub TV, revealing why he’s not interested in fighting Jeron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“If you say ‘big names’, I don’t watch him. I look at Pacquiao, Broner, Kell Brook and Khan, people invested in personality. There’s not much (with boots),” Ben said.
Conor is ranked #2 WBA, #2 WBC, #4 IBF and #7 WBO at Welterweight. Ben says he expects to challenge WBC 147-pound champion Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 15 KOs) in February 2025. That’s a win for Ben.
If he gets his hands on the WBC belt, he has a lot of money to make defending his title against old-timers Manny Pacquiao, Adrien Broner, Amir Khan and Cal Brooke. These are fights that would sell in the UK and His Excellency Turki Alalshik may be interested in taking some of them to Riyadh.
Barrios is coming off a 12-round draw against Abel Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs) on June 15 on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
