Terence Crawford praises Boots Ennis, asserts superiority ahead of potential bout

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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 13: Terence Crawford walks to the ring prior to the Undisputed & Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Championship against Canelo Alvarez (not pictured) at Allegiant Stadium on September 13, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/TKO Worldwide LLC via Getty Images) Terence Crawford stirred up some noise immediately following Boots Ennis‘ stoppage win over Xander Zayas this past weekend. Crawford would throw a little shade at Boots for his performance without specifically naming him, but stood on business when specifically asked about his post and his thoughts on him vs Boots. To be clear, Crawford acknowledged that he was in fact asserting his superiority over Boots, but that he has absolutely no intention of returning to the ring to prove it. “Of course, everybody know the competitive nature in myself but I don’t worry about coming back to prove anything because me coming back and proving something to people that doesn’t matter, never matters,” Crawford said. “For that, they would say ‘well [Boots] only fought Xander‘, they will come up with some type of excuse. “To credit Boots, he’s a tremendous talent and he’s no walk in the park for no one. So he’s a threat to anyone he steps in the ring with. He got tremendous speed, he got great power, defense, reflexes, all that. But the only thing that I can say is, I’m 10 steps ahead of him in smarts. I think that’s where he’ll get in trouble with coming straight forward, trying to box me, or think [he can go] shot for shot. “I just compare myself with a lot of great fighters and I can see the holes in his game and I can see the openings and opportunities that I’ll have because A) I feel like I punch harder than Xander, B) I’m way sharper than Xander, and C) I’m way faster than Xander. So the shots that Xander was hitting him with and the shots that Xander couldn’t capitalize because his speed wasn’t there, I would be able to capitalize and when I capitalize everybody know I’m probably one of the best counterpunchers there ever was. “Never [am I coming back]. I’m happily retired. It’s Boots’ era, I pray and hope he takes it to the extreme. I pray for nothing but the success for him and his family, and all in all it’s all about competitiveness and people want to see how this generation would do with the previous generation, the same way people comparing me to Floyd. We will never fight. “I wish him nothing but the best. I want to see him succeed.”