Unified welterweight champion American Errol Spence (28-0, 22 KOs) will make his debut in the first middleweight division in April – he will meet ex-champion compatriot Keith Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs).
Rumor has it that then Spence will return to 66.7 kg for the fight with the owner of the WBO belt missing from the complete collection of the WBO belt, compatriot Terence Crawford (39-0, 30 KOs).
Interim IBF champion American Jaron Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs)
believes: “As for me, if he already decided to go to 69.9 kg, then he won’t come back. I think that now, when he is already old, it is too difficult for him to make this limit. It is for this reason that I believe that he will remain in the first average. So I don’t think he’s coming back here to fight me or Crawford. Yes, I think he will stay there. But for the sake of a megafight and solid money, he may still agree to once again go through a grueling weight cut.
Ennis wondered if the Spence-Crawford fight at 69.9 kg was real: “I don’t even know. They won’t have any titles there. So what’s the point of all this then? At 66.7 kg, this is, of course, a mega fight. To be honest, I don’t know what their plans are. I hope that this whole situation will be resolved soon: they will meet in a face-to-face fight, and the winner will give me the fight. Do you know how angry it makes me to sit idle and wait for their decision? I’m sick of hearing advice like “be patient”. I’m too patient as it is.”
Ennis does not want to depend on his stellar colleagues in the division: “Regardless of whether they offer me fights with Spence, Thurman or Crawford, I want to fight this fight actively. At least 3 fights. I want to get back in the ring. And the faster the better. What do I think of the Spence vs Thurman fight? I’m sure Errol will speed it up. And no matter what weight they fight. Spence will still delay it. This does not mean that Thurman is weak. But he is already aged, he has passed his career peak. In his current form, he will not be able to handle Spence’s pressure.”
Ennis failed to impress over the weekend against Ukrainian Karen Chukhadzhian. Expert Teddy Atlas believes that “Jaron beat a very difficult fighter.” And coach Robert Garcia decided that if Chukhadzhian gave Ennis a hard time, then Ortiz would beat him.
