Podcast host Tim Bradley responded to the pushback he’s receiving from fans on social media about his request yesterday for Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to turn mole to provide inside intelligence from his training with Canelo Alvarez to supply to Terence Crawford for their September 13th fight in Las Vegas.

Bradley is justifying the request by calling it “war,” wanting Ennis to give up the intel to assist Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) to dethrone undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) for their ‘Fight of the Century’ on Netflix at Allegiant Stadium.

Crawford’s need for a new body

Even if Ennis does choose to cough up all that he’s seen and learned from his sparring with Canelo, it might not be enough to help Crawford. The info isn’t going to be the Fountain of Youth for the 38-ish Crawford to drink from to transform him into the young, spry fighter he was 15 years ago. If he were young, he’d have a chance. The aged version of Crawford that we saw in his last fight against Israil Madrimov on August 3, 2024, stands very little chance of defeating Canelo in my expert view.

The information that Ennis can supply is not going to provide Terence with the size and power of a natural super middleweight. What Crawford needs is a new body. If he could borrow David Benavidez or David Morrell’s body for the night, he’d do well. As it is, he’s not designed physically to fight at 168 against a powerful fighter like Canelo. We would have found that out already if Turki Alalshikh had insisted that Crawford beat the top three contenders in the division to earn the fight against Alvarez.

Bradley’s ‘spy’ for Crawford

“This is war. Terence Crawford vs. Canelo. In war, we need intelligence. We need inside information. That’s what we need,” said Tim Bradley on his channel, justifying his request from yesterday for Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to supply Crawford with information on his training with Canelo Alvarez to assist Bud.

The push that Bradley is making for Ennis to become a mole for Crawford suggests that he’s worried for the Omaha, Nebraska native, Crawford. For Tim to be pushing so desperately for ‘Boots’ Ennis to turn rat indicates that he has doubts that Bud can win without extra help.

“‘Boots,’ we need the report asap. We need to know what you were doing against him,” said Bradley yesterday on his channel.

Ennis’s lack of obligation

Jaron doesn’t owe Crawford anything to make him turn into a spy. Crawford didn’t give ‘Boots’ Ennis a title shot before exiting the 147-lb division in 2024. He could have helped boost Ennis’ career if he’d stayed in the welterweight division to defend his WBI title against him rather than moving up to junior middleweight.

“Don’t you remember when Mayweather was getting ready to fight against Manny Pacquiao [on May 2, 2015]. Who did he hire? He hired [Pacquiao’s former strength and conditioning coach] Alex Ariza.

“You don’t remember the informant that gave Mayweather some information about Canelo some years ago? Man, it’s part of the strategy. You want all the information you can get. I don’t want to hear nothing about what anybody has got to say. Get that information somehow,” said Bradley.

Pacquiao was 36 when he fought Mayweather, and took the fight with a torn right rotator cuff injury that required surgery after the contest. Moreover, Pacquiao had lost two out of his last five fights when he fought Floyd. So, with all that, Mayweather didn’t need an informant to help him defeat Pacquiao.

“Crawford camp and anybody else involved with Crawford’s team, because that’s intel you can use to help you get in that fight. That’s not a sign of weakness in my opinion. That’s a sign of wisdom,” said Bradley,

A sign of desperation

It could also be a sign of desperation on Crawford’s part if he stoops to the level of picking ‘Boots’ Ennis’ brain for tips, turning him into a mole for hire to get any extra edge they can to try and win the fight.

Studying tapes of Canelo’s recent fights against William Scull, Edgar Berlanga, and Jaime Munguia should provide enough information for Crawford to come up with a good game plan for the September 13th fight.