By: Sean Crose

Terence Crawford’s brilliant victory over Canelo Alvarez last month was a fight that will be long remembered. However both Crawford and Canelo are getting on in sports years. They’re still young men, just not as young as they used to be. Now, with Crawford unquestionably being the face of boxing, it’s ironic that he’s closer to the end of his career than he is to the beginning. In other words, people already looking for the next face of the sport. Enter Jaron “Boots” Ennis. Wildly talented and extremely skilled, he’s being looked at is nothing less than the future of boxing.

Of course Ennis is more than the next big thing. He’s been a world titleist, he’s beaten everyone who’s been willing to get into the ring with him, and his name is well known among the boxing public. To reach the level that Canelo was at and that Crawford now resides at, however, the man will have to continue to impress. He’ll have a chance to do just that Saturday night when he faces Uisma Lima in his junior middleweight debut. While Ennis will clearly be the favorite walking in, this is not a time to underestimate any opponents. He’ll have a lot to lose if he doesn’t look good this weekend. Ennis may have won all of his previous 34 fights, but Lima has only lost on a single occasion himself.

“Boots’ is hungry,” fellow Philadelphia fighter Danny Garcia has said to DAZN. “That’s the only risk for Crawford, fighting a young, hungry guy who wants everything you have.” While a fight with Crawford may not be in Ennis’s future- then again, you never know- Ennis could take a page out of Crawford’s book by winning fight after fight impressively. It’s worth remembering that for whatever reason Crawford was largely marginalized for much of his career. It wasn’t until he crushed Errol Spence not all that long ago that Crawford began to get the credit and accolades he deserved.

A WBA interim title is at stake Saturday night, which is a positive thing for Ennis in that if he wins as expected, he’ll be in line to fight for the world title. And after that, who knows? Boxing is a strange sport. It’s hard to know what will happen next. Who will be the new toast of the ring? Ennis is clearly in position of contender as far as that goes provided he keeps on performing like he has. The knockout artist has as good a chance as any of being the next Crawford.