Conor Benn says no one knows who IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is in England because he doesn’t possess a “personality.”
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)
The highly ranked undefeated Benn (23-0, 14 KOs) states that he doesn’t look at Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) when “big names” are mentioned because he’s well known in the UK.
Ennis’s Lack of Charisma
Benn, 28, does rate Boots as an outstanding fighter at 147, second to Terence Crawford, but his lack of charisma and personality make him unworthy of fighting.
He’s undesirable. Jaron’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, has obviously got a heavy burden trying to promote the Philadelphia native with his dull, flat, uninspiring personality. Hearn can’t do it alone. He needs to build his brand, but it’s not happening.
Ennis doesn’t seem to realize that boxing is the entertainment business, and you’ve got to be able to get people interested outside of the ring. Look at Tyson Fury. He’s not much of a talent and has barren resume, but he’s made an absolute fortune due to his clown personality.
Boots has got to himself; otherwise, he’s not worth it for Hearn to keep him around on his Matchroom team. Eddie is excellent at hyping up fighters, but he can’t do it if they’re just there in body only during the promotion of their fights.
Ennis isn’t doing the public relations [PR] work that he needs to do outside of the ring, doing interviews, posting on social media, and creating characters. He needs a gimmick to sell himself to the public, but nothing is being done to create one.
Jaron’s Missed Opportunity
Boots recently turned down a massive fight offer to move up to 154 to challenge Vergil Ortiz Jr. for his WBC interim title at His Excellency Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season event on February 22nd. That’s the worst possible career move that Ennis could take.
“Who knows who Boots is? I was walking around Philly and Miami. Everyone is familiar with the Benn name in the states. Ennis comes to England, no one knows who he is,” said Conor Benn to Fight Hub TV, revealing why he’s not interested in fighting Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
“If you say ‘big names,’ I don’t look at him. I look at Pacquiao, Broner, Kell Brook, and Khan, people invested in personalities. There ain’t much of that(With Boots),” said Benn.
Conor is ranked #2 WBA, #2 WBC, #4 IBF, and #7 WBO at welterweight. Benn says he expects to challenge WBC 147-lb champion Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 15 KOs) in February 2025. That’s a winnable fight for Benn.
If he can get his hands on the WBC belt, there’s a lot of money to make in title defenses against the old timers, Manny Pacquiao, Adrien Broner, Amir Khan, and Kell Brook. Those are fights that would sell in the UK, and His Excellency Turki Alalshikh might be interested in staging some of them in Riyadh.
Barrios is coming off a 12-round draw against Abel Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs) on June 15th on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
