While Ennis believes Kelly poses the toughest test for him, Terence Crawford doesn’t think beating The Ring's No. 6-rated fighter at 154 pounds holds the same weight as beating the other top junior middleweights.

During a contentious appearance on the DAZN and TNT broadcast of Damian Knyba’s unanimous decision victory over Andy Ruiz Jr. on Friday in Newark, New Jersey, Crawford told Ennis he’d give him his props if he beat WBC titleholder Sebastian Fundora and Vergil Ortiz.

The five-division titleholder and three-time undisputed champion also asked Ennis why he hasn’t faced Ortiz yet. Ennis said he’ll eventually face the unbeaten Texan. He also said he's unsure about which division he'd face Ortiz, as the latter is expected to move up to middleweight for his next fight.

“I don't know what he's doing right now,” Ennis said of Ortiz. “I'm at '54 and doing my thing at '54, and my next fight will be Josh Kelly, so we’ll see.”

Crawford later added that he believes Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs) is a favorable matchup for Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs), but he still believes the Philadelphia native has something to prove against a fighter like Ortiz.

“If you would have fought Vergil, we would have seen if you would have stepped up,” Crawford said. “If you step on Fundora, I give you your props [and] if you step on somebody like Vergil …. [Ortiz is] tailormade for your style, but at the same time, you ain't been proven against a style like him.”

Ennis and Crawford traded words about how a fight between them would have played out. Crawford, who retired in December, warned Ennis of what would have happened if they fought and he hurt him as Xander Zayas did on June 27. Ennis retorted by mentioning the times he believed Crawford was hurt in his career. He added that Crawford would have been easy work, and he believes that would be the case with everyone he faces.

Ennis, The Ring’s No. 1-ranked junior middleweight, dropped Zayas three times before stopping him in the seventh round to become the WBA and WBO 154-pound champion. Crawford later added that he’s hoping and praying that Ennis becomes the undisputed 154-pound champion soon.

Ennis, who was also a unified champion at welterweight, reiterated that his focus is on becoming the undisputed champion but added that a bout with Ortiz is one of the best fights that can be made in boxing.

“You're the man when you’re undisputed,” Ennis said. “That's what I want. I want my legacy stamped in this boxing game. When people hear my name in this boxing game, I want them to know that Boots fought everybody, and he took over every division. That's how I want to carry myself.”

Ennis and Ortiz, The Ring’s No. 2-ranked junior middleweight, were on a collision course to fight earlier this year. That came to a halt when Ortiz sought to make the fight happen in April without Golden Boy Promotions. The company, which Ortiz sued for breach of contract on January 16, secured a temporary restraining order on February 13 to prevent the fight from happening without its involvement.

Ortiz and Golden Boy settled on July 17. He's expected to return to the ring in November.

Ennis said his preference would have been to face Fundora. The Ring’s No. 3-ranked junior middleweight, before facing Kelly (19-1-1, 9 KOs). The 6-foot-5 Fundora (24-1-1, 16 KOs) will face mandatory challenger Ermal Hadribeaj (23-0-1, 8 KOs) on October 17 at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on DAZN and TNT.

“Whoever they put in front of me, I'm gonna keep putting them down,” Ennis said. “I'm gonna keep cooking them. Can't nobody in this boxing game mess with me at all. Every time I fight, I give y'all something different. Last fight, I gave y'all some dog work. The fight before that, I gave y'all a first-round knockout. The fight before that, I boxed and moved.

"These guys can't do what I do. It don't matter who is in front of me. I’m going to do whatever I want to them.”