2 of his las 3 performances have been underwhelming. Sometimes that could be due to motivation or lack there of. Eddie Hearn seems to want to keep him at 147 to get the belts but there’s no smoke there. It’s all at 154. I don’t think Ennis is a bum. But I definitely see flaws that Crawford and others would absolutely capitalize on. What say y’all?
He’s as good as advertised….from 140-160 the only one who can fk with him is Crawford……Tszyu, Fondora, Teo will all get wrecked by Boots. But there is SOMETHING about the way he fights that doesn’t sit right with me…however I think he’s so much better than his opponents, that he get lackadaisical about the whole fight. Imo moving up to 154 is a dumb move…he’s moving away from future big money fights….Teo, Tank, Haney, Ryan, if they ever think about moving to Welterweight they have to see Boots. He needs to become a Hopkins at 147 collect all the belts, defend them so when the 140 pounder move up they have no other route than to fight boots. Crawford has shown unwillingness to fight Boots….that not going to change by boots moving up. However any time Crawford wants the smoke Boots will jump up for THE FIGHT.
Boots is very good, but you’re oversimplifying things here. Saying only Crawford can mess with him from 140-160 is a bit much. Guys like Tszyu, Fundora, and Teo are no pushovers. Boxing history is full of surprises, and acting like Boots will just roll over everyone is a bit naive. As for his "lackadaisical" style, blaming it on his supposed superiority isn’t really looking at the whole picture. Complacency can ruin a fighter and it’s risky to just shrug it off as his style. As he moves up he can get caught slipping. Moving up to 154 isn’t dumb ...it’s strategic. Fighters move up for bigger challenges better fights and sometimes because they just outgrow their division. Not everyone can or should stay in one weight class like Hopkins did. That’s an exception, not the rule. And thinking Teo, Tank, Haney, and Ryan have no choice but to fight Boots if they move to Welterweight? That’s oversimplifying things. Boxing isn’t that straightforward. There’s a lot that goes into making fights happen... like negotiations and promotions. It’s not a simple "you move up, you fight Boots" situation. Lastly saying Crawford doesn’t want to fight Boots is pure speculation. Boxing politics are complicated and fighters often have little control over their next opponents. Calling Crawford unwilling without solid evidence is just guesswork. Bottom line... while Boots is talented your take on the situation misses a lot of the complexities of boxing. It’s not as black and white as you’re making it out to be. To get back to the original question...yeah I do think Boots is a bit hyped, just like Andre and other fighters of his ilk.
Boots is talented and really good with potential to be a boxing star but he just hasn’t had the chance to really show it against world class opponent’s unfortunately. He hasn’t been truly tested yet and he would need to beat guys like Spence, Ortiz Jr, or even Crawford to make a lot of noise.
I think Boots is a fantastic offensive fighter. He just needs to tighten up his defense. But it may just be the fact that he hasn’t faced a fighter that he feels the need to thus far
