Jaron “Boots” Ennis has accused Terence Crawford of avoiding him.

Ennis was awarded the IBF welterweight title when, while he was the organisation’s mandatory challenger to the then-undisputed champion Crawford, Crawford was stripped on account of his plans to honour his agreement with Errol Spence.

The rematch between them – the victory over Spence in July 2023 established Crawford as the world’s finest fighter – is yet to materialise, and Crawford has since signed to fight Israil Madrimov for the WBA light-middleweight title in Los Angeles on August 3.

With Ennis on course to make the first defence of his title shortly before then, against Canada’s 31-year-old Cody Crowley in his home city of Philadelphia, neither is entering a more appealing fight than would represent Crawford-Ennis, and in turn Ennis said: “That’s what it is.

“I wanted that fight. It definitely was – not frustrating, but it was weird. ‘I don’t know what’s going on.’ Boxing is a weird game, but at the end of the day there’s nothing you really can do. You can’t control it, so I’m not going to [try].

“Most definitely [I’m Crawford’s toughest potential opponent]. I didn’t know how he was going to do the jump [to super middleweight to potentially fight Saul “Canelo” Alvarez]. I didn’t know how he was gonna jump that many weights. I didn’t feel no type of way. It’s not really [a mismatch] – Canelo started at 154, and Canelo’s not really a big guy.

“It’s definitely not how I wanted it. You know, I’d rather take it from somebody. There’s nothing I can do. I couldn’t say ‘No’; I couldn’t say ‘Yes’. They just elevated me up. Nothing I can do, but I’m gonna defend the belt and do what I need to do.”

Crawford-Crowley will be Ennis’ first fight in Philadelphia since 2018, and he believes that what, historically, was one of America’s leading fight cities can build not only on his success, but the reaction he is expecting from his friend Stephen Fulton when Fulton returns from his defeat by Naoya Inoue.

“‘Scooter’, definitely,” said Ennis, 26 and who recently entered a promotional agreement with Matchroom. “I can’t wait to see him back in the ring. He’s gonna do his thing; he’s gonna prove everybody wrong. He’s going to prove everybody wrong – a lot of people been talking. 

“That’s all I’m gonna say. He gon’ come back and show everybody who he really is. He gon’ be back soon.”