As we head towards a super middleweight fight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford next month, word has spread on social media of Canelo enlisting the services of Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to serve as his sparring partner in order to get ready for Crawford. Here, trainer Stephen ‘Breadman’ Edwards breaks down the move and explains why it shows how seriously Canelo is taking this fight. Check out some excerpts below.
Breadman on Canelo hiring Boots as a sparring partner to get ready for Crawford
“You know I got Crawford in the fight but it definitely shook things up and it was
a good move by Reynoso ‘cause if I was getting prepared for Crawford I would use Boots as a sparring partner. If I was preparing for Boots I would use Crawford as a sparring partner. I think that they’re not exactly the same, no two people are, but they’re very, very similar in styles with the switching, boxer-puncher, killer mentality — they got a lot of things similar.
“I think it was a good move by Team Canelo and I got a kid that I train that box Boots, Crawford, and Canelo and obviously being from Philly I seen Boots in the gym for the last 11 years. Literally the first time I ever hired him was in 2014 to spar Julian Williams. So I been around him for a long time and I think it was a good move. I’m still rocking with Crawford but I know some people that was like ‘man, I’m changing my pick now because that’s the best sparring you can get’ and it showed them that Canelo is taking this fight super serious.
“So I respect everybody’s opinion but I’m still rocking with Crawford. I still think he gonna pull it off, but that (sparring) is a good look and shows that Canelo is taking this fight super serious because to get some work like that, I’ve seen you in Philly before and you seen Boots in the gym and you know he’s rough in the gym.
“And people always get mad at then when people who get to see Boots everyday talk about him, but I always say like ‘why would I lie?’ I don’t have no reason to lie at all. I don’t train him, I don’t get a check from him, I’m not part of his team. All I do is say what I see and he’s a phenomenal talent and the people in the know, know better. But the people on the outside they’re kind of like ‘ah, we don’t know, we don’t see that’ and I’m just like ‘ok’ it’s not up for me to convince you, it’s up to him to convince ya’ll…”
On whether he believes Canelo’s move improves his chances
“Fights is won in the camp. Like very few guys can just turn the switch on and don’t do nothing in camp and then look like a million bucks in the fight. That’s why fighters spend the money they spend on sparring partners because getting the look or simulating the intensity of how a fight is going to be is how you prepare for a fight. And the most important part of camp is sparring.
“So it didn’t make me say Canelo is going to win the fight but it did make me say damn he’s taking this fight serious and it’s a real good look. I respect the fact that he got the best possible sparring he could find for Crawford to win this fight. I even respect when he did it because if he would’ve got Boots early in camp, Boots probably would’ve beat his butt, when you first come to camp and you not sharp.
“He got him with about three weeks left in the camp so he can handle the work, ‘cause again, you been up to Philly and you seen the work, Boots don’t have bad days in the gym, he stays in the gym all the time. You can just get him off the streets and he’ll go 10-12 rounds in the gym…I’m not bragging about a kid that I don’t train or is not my son, I’m just telling the truth. Like I haven’t seen him have an off-day in the gym in like 10 years.
“I get some nasty things said to me because I talk highly about the kid but I don’t know what they want me to do, lie on him, hate on him because they don’t see what I see? I don’t know what they want me to do…All I know is he’s a talented fighter, that’s it.”
