Terence Crawford reckons Jaron Ennis’s toughest fight is not against a fellow champion at all — he has tipped Vergil Ortiz Jr as the man who would give ‘Boots’ the hardest night of his career.
Ennis became a two-division unified champion in June, stopping Xander Zayas in the seventh round to claim the WBO and WBA super-welterweight titles. With WBC champion Sebastian Fundora and IBF holder Josh Kelly also at 154lbs, a unification looks the obvious next step — but Crawford believes a non-champion poses the bigger threat.
Why Crawford rates Ortiz as Jaron Ennis’s toughest test
“Fundora leaves the door open to getting caught. Vergil — he’s going to be in your face; he’s going to have his hands up; he’s going to be jabbing you with a stiff jab, going to your body.”
Terence Crawford, speaking to All The Smoke Fight
It is a notable call given Fundora’s 6ft 6in frame and the improvement he showed boxing at range against Keith Thurman in March. Crawford, though, values Ortiz’s constant pressure and stiff jab above the taller man’s awkward angles. The verdict adds fresh intrigue to Crawford’s earlier read on the Ennis fight.
As Boxing News Online reported, Crawford still rates Fundora a genuine danger — but for ‘Bud’, it is Ortiz who ticks every box.
