Negotiations to stage a welterweight unification fight between Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Brian Norman Jr don’t appear to be going so well, with Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn lashing out and saying Norman and others have been turning down generous offers to fight Boots.
After Brian Norman Sr has repeatedly gone to social media to supposedly express their interest in making it happen, Hearn says the talks behind closed doors reflect a much different attitude.
“It’s frustrating because you kind of hear everything that Brian Norman Sr, his dad, is saying and none of it really makes sense,” Hearn said. “This is a really simple situation. The first offer made to Brian Norman was nicely over a million dollars. They said that they felt that — not insulting, but was nowhere near.
“We’ve made two more offers, quarter of a million dollars (more) every time now, to levels that Brian Norman will never see. And we keep getting told ‘we’re close’ and we go back and make another offer and we’re told by his team that we’re actually not that close and I start to think ‘Brian Norman, do you want this fight or are you clout chasing,’ or as the others might say over here ‘cap’ or whatever it is.
“But it’s like ‘do you want to be great, Brian Norman?’ Like not being funny, who is Brian Norman? I know Brian Norman’s a good fighter, but no one knows who Brian Norman is. We’re giving you a bucket load of money and an opportunity for you to unify the division, and in my opinion, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
“Now you say Boots is overrated, you say he’s not the boogeyman, then why wouldn’t you take this bucket load of money to prove you’re the best welterweight in the world? So let’s just stop with the interviews online — we’ve gone back three times now with more money, to a point like, with all due respect to Brian Norman, he shouldn’t be making this kind of money but we’re ready and we’re prepared to pay him it. And then we get told ‘oh, you’re miles off.’
“I don’t believe the bullshit of Brian Norman and the team. If you want the fight you would’ve taken the fight and now where the IBF, which is absolutely ridiculous, has ordered Chukhadzhian — the rematch. The kid’s a good fighter, Boots has already beaten him. The IBF have got to stop with this. They’re ruining boxing by ordering fights that people really don’t want to see, especially when he’s already beaten him.
“So we may vacate the belt and we may do something different because Boots has got to prove to the world how great he is. We may fight Chukhadzhian, we may just get it out of the way, but Brian Norman has missed the boat and now he’s got to go and fight someone for peanuts that no one’s ever heard of.
“Brian Norman had the chance to prove himself as a superstar and they dropped the ball…we may take care of the mandatory again, but we didn’t want to. We want to fight — listen, we’ve made offers like Stanionis, well over a million dollars. Where’s Stanionis going to see money like that?! Who is Stanionis? These guys, it’s laid on a plate of ‘em. And the problem with boxing, Brian Norman, Stanionis, Mario Barrios, they know they can’t beat Boots.
“Brian Norman, who no one’s ever heard of, has a chance to beat Jaron Ennis and become a superstar in the sport, and make a fortune on the way. But he talks about it but he’s not about it. And Stanionis, don’t even get me started on Stanionis. That geezer piped up on Twitter. I mean, not being funny, when I made the offer to Stanionis I nearly threw up in my caviar. And now he don’t want to know either. Barrios is fighting someone else, whatever.”
