When Will Rashidi Ellis Return to the Ring?
The welterweight division is loaded with fresh blood knocking at the door for their opportunity. The boxing community hopes that unified champion Errol Spence Jr and WBO champion Terence “Bud” Crawford get it on this year. However, Golden Boy Promotions’ Rashidi “Speedy” Ellis (23-0, 14ko) has been shelved, waiting to get back into the game.
THE RISING TALENTS
Fans heard of fighters like Vergil Ortiz Jr, who’s ranked inside the top five of every governing sanctioning body. In 2021, he had an incredible year defeating former champion Maurice Hooker and former title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas via brutal knockouts.
Jaron “Boots” Ennis is making some serious noise as fans believe he can defeat either Spence or Crawford right now. He is ranked #3 or higher with the WBC, WBA, WBO, and IBF. Boots is viewed as the boogeyman of the division and a serious threat to anyone holding a championship.
Then there is Conor “The Destroyer” Benn, who is making a name for himself outside of being the son of the famous Nigel “Dark Destroyer” Benn.
ELLIS HAS BEEN TRYING TO FIGHT
Ellis is arguably as talented as the previously mentioned names, but he has been M.I.A. In 2021, he traded words on social media with contender Custio Clayton.
“Custio Clayton I’ll beat your ass, stop playing.”
Then he would make it known that fellow stablemate Ortiz Jr could get it ,also.
“I’ll fight Vergil Ortiz, I been wanting to whoop his ass!”
A MESSAGE TO GOLDEN BOY: #FREESPEEDYELLIS
One of the reasons for his inactivity is the dispute with Golden Boy. Ellis believed his contract was up, and as it turned out, that was not the case.
“It was supposed to be up, but I guess I owed them some time. But, my lawyer is looking into it. So, I am going to let the lawyers get into that.”
In 2020, he defeated another stablemate in Alexis Rocha, who has fought twice in 2021, on the undercard of two high-profile fights featuring former WBO junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia. Furthermore, his career is taking a huge hit for not fighting. Ellis dropped from being ranked by three of the sanctioning bodies, to plummeting like the 2008 stock market to #14 by the WBC. He was within striking distance of a title fight only to now be on the outside looking in. This is a tragedy for such a talent to be sitting waiting to resume his career.
Hopefully, in 2022 things start to work themselves out, and he can break free from the shackles by leaving Golden Boy to regain his career. This author is thinking of starting a new hashtag: #FreeSpeedyEllis.
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By: Garrisson Bland
