Terence Crawford commented on Jaron 'Boots' Ennis's spectacular victory over Xander Zayas, and his reaction was a mixture of praise and a firm reminder of his own superiority.
The retired five-division boxing world champion watched as Ennis captured the WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles with a seventh-round stoppage of Zayas at the Barclays Center, but he was quick to downplay any suggestion that this changes his legacy.
"I'm retired. I'm happily retired. It's Boots' era. I pray and hope he takes it to the extreme," Crawford said, seemingly shutting the door on any talk of returning to fight against Ennis.
“I pray for nothing but success for him, him and his family,” he said.
Ultimately, “Bud” understands that conversations about hypothetical intergenerational matchups are what define boxing’s fanbase and fuel the sport.
“It's all about competitiveness. And people want to see how this generation would do with the previous generation. The same way with people comparing me to Floyd [Mayweather]. We'll never fight, you know. So I wish him nothing but the best. I want to see him succeed,” he continued.
“[I’m] 38 years old, about to be 39. I don't have nothing to prove,” he stated. “I hope that Jaron has half the career that I had, you know, or surpasses me. If he surpasses me, I'm going to be rooting for him, you know. I'm going to be giving him his props. I'm not the type of fighter that, you know, wants to see him fail. I want to see him succeed. I want to congratulate him. I want to see him make it to the Hall of Fame and congratulate him.”
