November 20, 2022
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Keith Thurman wanted a pretty penny to face blue-chip prospect Jaron Ennis. Ennis’ father and trainer Bozy recently revealed that “One Time” wanted an eight-figure payday to face off against “Boots”.
“Thurman wanted $10 million to fight Boots. Come on, man. You don’t make $10 million. Why would you want $10 million to fight Boots? I know it’s high-risk, low reward, but you never made $10 million fighting Manny Pacquiao,” Ennis told YouTube channel “In This Corner Boxing 24”. Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs) is one of the biggest names and most viable contenders in the welterweight division. The 33-year-old former 147-pound champion understands his value and wants to be paid handsomely for it.
Inactivity and injuries, however, have derailed his career in recent years. Thurman has fought just once since suffering his first professional loss to Pacquiao in July 2019. It was a unanimous decision win against Mario Barrios in January.
The Florida native Thurman was playing the waiting game hoping to get a chance at either Terence Crawford or Errol Spence Jr. once negotiations for their fight fell apart. Crawford has since moved on to a fight with David Avanesyan on Dec. 10, while Spence remains without an opponent. Thurman is Spence’s mandatory challenger for the Texan’s WBC belt.
Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs), meanwhile, is still stuck on the sidelines and has fought only once this year – a second-round knockout against Custio Clayton. “We want to fight two, three times a year, and we don’t like that [inactivity for Boots]. So I talked to [Showtime Sports head Stephen] Espinoza and told him, ‘We need to fight. “We were supposed to be fighting on Dec. 17, or something like that. I told [Espinoza] that we want someone in the top five. We’re not going backward. We’re not going to ten or nine or anything like that. We want top five, six, or seven.
“Crawford is going to be fighting Avanesyan. That’s who we wanted to fight, but he turned us down. We’ve been asking for him. He was supposed to fight [Vergil] Ortiz Jr. one time, but Ortiz turned him down. That’s what I heard.
“We want everyone in the top five. We asked all them guys. So that’s what we’re waiting on. I don’t know who [Espinoza] is going to get for us, but he’s going to get somebody. “We don’t like waiting because Boots always stays in the gym.” Ennis is Spence’s mandatory challenger for the IBF title.
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