Why is Jaron Ennis not getting the big fights?

“Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis could easily take over the sport. He’s one of the best fighters in the world today, one of the most talented guys around,” Chris Algieri said, sounding almost exasperated. But here we are, years into a career that should’ve exploded by now, and Ennis is still waiting in the wings.

The talent’s undeniable. Ennis, with his perfect 32-0 record, 29 knockouts to boot, is a fighter who could stand alongside some of the greats. But if you ask anyone outside the dedicated boxing community who he is, you’ll get blank stares. The name just doesn’t carry the weight it should, not when you compare him to guys like Oscar De La Hoya, who by 27 had already blazed through legendary names like Julio Cesar Chavez and Felix Trinidad. Boots? He’s stuck fighting lesser-knowns, the spotlight passing him by while big paydays and legacy fights are given to others.

And that’s where the real problem lies. It’s not that he can’t fight - he’s got the goods. It’s that the fights that matter just aren’t happening for him. A boxer can’t rise without a dance partner, and the top guys, the ones who’d make fans sit up and take notice, seem to be nowhere in sight.

Promoter Eddie Hearn was supposed to change that. He’s got a reputation for making big fights happen, for having the financial backing to pull off the deals. But when it came to securing a unification bout for Ennis against WBO welterweight champ Brian Norman Jr., Hearn balked at the $2.2 million price tag. That sent a pretty clear signal to those paying attention: Hearn isn’t willing to put his chips all in for Boots. He’s also lost a purse bid for Ennis to defend his IBF title against Karen Chukhadzhian. It’s one thing to talk about wanting to promote a fighter; it’s another to actually make it happen.

And as Algieri points out, the sport itself isn’t doing Ennis any favors. “He’s not getting the fights. People don’t know who he is,” Algieri said. “A lot of it has to do with the sport today in terms of not making the fights happen that people need to see.”

Boxing’s gotten bogged down in negotiations, in politics, in promoters playing it safe with their money. It’s not like it used to be, when fighters like De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, and Felix Trinidad were willing - and able - to face each other in their primes. Now, you’ve got champions like Terence Crawford and the British heavyweights, Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury, hogging the limelight while a fighter like Ennis can’t get a sniff at the top-tier bouts he needs. As Algieri puts it, “We’re not getting these fights, and negotiating is becoming more and more difficult to make these fights.”

But it’s not just about finances, is it? There’s a sense that Hearn and other promoters might be deliberately lowballing potential opponents for Ennis, almost as a strategy to keep him waiting. Rick Glaser, a boxing matchmaker, pointed out that the offer Hearn made to Charles Conwell to fight Ennis was “so low it’s laughable.” He believes Hearn wanted Conwell to turn down the fight, giving them an excuse to pump up Ennis like he’s unbeatable, the king of a division that’s been ignoring him. And the longer they stall, the longer Ennis sits on the sidelines, his prime slipping away.

The thing is, Ennis has that rare combination of power, skill, and speed that could make him a force in the welterweight division for years to come. But as it stands, his dream of becoming an undisputed champion feels like it’s getting further away with each missed opportunity. He’s stuck in a holding pattern, waiting for the sport to catch up with his talent.

If something doesn’t change soon, if he doesn’t get the financial and promotional backing he needs, he could very well go down as one of the biggest ‘what-ifs’ in boxing history. It’s not enough to be good in this sport; you’ve got to have the right people behind you. And right now, Boots Ennis is out there alone, watching as the fighters with the big names and the bigger wallets pass him by.