Eddie Hearn ‘Still’ Trying To Make Jaron Ennis vs. Brian Norman Jr.
Eddie Hearn is still trying to make Jaron Ennis vs. Brian Norman Jr., as he looks to secure the high-profile welterweight fight.
Ennis is coming off a stoppage win over David Avanesyan to defend his IBF welterweight title for the first time. Since then, he does not have his next fight booked, but Hearn has given an update on a potential opponent as he hints at Norman Jr. being next for ‘Boots.’
“We want a unification fight for ‘Boots’. If Norman has the balls to step up and fight Boots Ennis, then fair play to him. He should be commended as someone that wants to make the best fights in the sport, and I think Jaron Ennis against Norman is a brilliant fight for American boxing. We made two offers to Top Rank, for Brian Norman. Both of which were rejected; I think they were really solid offers; I think they would also agree the money was strong. But we didn’t hear back with a counter-offer,” Hearn said to BoxingScene.
“I saw something saying, ‘We made a counter-offer’. That’s not true. We’ve never received a counter-offer; we’ve never received a number that gets it done. We just made two offers that were rejected. So, no problem. Listen, let’s keep talking,” Hearn added. “We’ve also made offers to [Eimantas] Stanionis. We’ve made offers to [Mario] Barrios as well. So, the three [other] champions. Obviously we’ve got the mandatory, Karen Chukhadzhian, but with all due respect, he’s already fought him, and we don’t really want that fight. We don’t see the value in that fight. But it is what it is with the IBF, so it would be our preferred option to make a unification. No date confirmed, but it will be November.”
Jaron Ennis is 32-0 and one NC as a pro. In his career, Ennis has notable wins over Custio Clayton, Thomas Dulorme, and Sergey Lipantes.
Brian Norman Jr., meanwhile, is 26-0 as a pro and coming off a KO win over Giovani Santillan back in May.