“Sometimes When You’re Patient”: Boxing Trainer Offers Crucial Advice to Jaron Ennis With Inspiration From Likes of Roberto Duran and More

Jaron Ennis, the undefeated IBF welterweight champion, had his dream of a voluntary fight against Terence Crawford dashed by the boxing governing body. The IBF has flexed its muscle, mandating Ennis’ next opponent: Cody Crowley. This throws a curveball into Ennis’ plans. While both camps had 30 days to negotiate a bout, the update on that front is yet to emerge.

Ennis, currently embroiled in a lawsuit with his promotion company, will have his pops, Derrick “Bozy” Ennis, handle negotiations. Crowley’s side, represented by TGB Promotions, will be looking to secure a fair payday for their fighter. However, it still remains a fight that Boots is not that eager to take. So much so that Boots is even ready to make a move to a different division. Well, Stephen “Breadman” Edwards, the trainer behind fighters like Caleb Plant and Julian “JRock” Williams, advised Ennis to take up this fight and not move up in the weight class.

Renowned boxing trainer, Stephen Edwards believes Ennis should stay put at 147 pounds in the welterweight division for as long as his body allows. The reasoning? Edwards said, “I personally don’t think he needs to move up. I think if he can keep making the weight, he should make the weight. Sometimes when you’re patient, it’s the promoter’s job to create opponents, not the fighter’s job to create opponents.”

When the host asked Edwards what good being patient would do for Ennis when there are no opponents, Edwards replied, “Here’s why I say that, right, because a lot of fighters who have had great careers what they’ve done is they beat the best available opponent for them and then eventually great opponents surfaced.”

After this, Edwards gave the example of Marvin Haggler, who defended his title against many unknown opponents in the middleweight division before fighters like Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns, John Mugabi, and Sugar Ray Leonard made their way up to the middleweight division to challenge Hagler for the title.

In the same way, Edwards also believes that Jaron Ennis should stay at 147 and beat whatever guys are available to him instead of switching divisions to get bigger fights. According to the trainer, fighters will slowly make their way up to the welterweight division.

There are discussions about Ennis-Crowley landing on the undercard of Canelo Alvarez‘s next fight, assuming Canelo stays with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC). This high-profile platform could be a nice consolation prize for Ennis.

What are your thoughts about this? Let us know in the comments section below.

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