Crawford’s comments got here after watching Ennis’ win over the then-unified WBA and WBO junior middleweight champion Xander Zayas last weekend. Although Ennis dominated before scoring a seventh-round knockout, he absorbed plenty of fresh shots.
A part of that got here from Ennis’ willingness to face and trade slightly than box from the skin. Unlike Crawford, who built his profession around movement and defensive awareness, Ennis prefers fighting within the pocket, giving Zayas more opportunities to attach than he must have had.
“If Boots gets hurt like he did the last time, Ortiz is gonna finish him,” Crawford said to the AH Show. “He’s got to tighten up his defence. He gotta stop exchanging. I do know he’s faster than most, more explosive than most, but, at the identical time, he’s shown up to now that he can get careless and that he’s going on the market simply to fight. Whenever you get higher and better, that’s not gonna be enough.”
Crawford’s comment is less about Ennis’ ability than his discipline. While praising Ennis’ speed and explosiveness, the previous four-division world champion suggested those benefits could disappear if he continues giving elite punchers opportunities to land clean shots.
Ortiz’s trainer, Robert Garcia, has already made it clear his team is willing to take the fight, although Vergil Jr could return in an interim bout after greater than eight months out of the ring. His promotional dispute with Golden Boy Promotions can also be believed to be nearing a resolution.
If the business side falls into place, Crawford believes the end result may come all the way down to whether Ennis corrects the defensive lapses which have surfaced at times during his profession. Against most opponents, those mistakes haven’t cost him. Against Ortiz, Crawford isn’t convinced he’d get a second probability.
