IBF welterweight champion Jaron Ennis dropped and outpointed Karen Chukhadzhian, leaving his hometown Philadelphia craving more. The Ukrainian’s improved fight and vigour after their previous meeting last April leaves Ennis questions to answer as defensive frailties leaked against a game opponent never expected to hear the final bell over 24 rounds – doing so twice.
Ennis hints at light-middleweight in scrambled interview
119-107, 117-109, 116-110: Jaron Ennis (c) bt. Karen Chukhadzhian via UD12, makes second defence of IBF world welterweight title
- Ennis scored a fifth-round knockdown against Ukrainian challenger but despite flashes of encouragement, couldn’t complete the stoppage he craved against an underdog whose confidence grew after a good start where he unsettled the champion earlier, herky-jerky style stifling him
- Juggling between the two! Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn said: “Karen had a great performance, Boots wasn’t switched on as much as he would have been, has been tighter at the weight this week. There are a lot of talks about Vergil Ortiz, I’d like to see him unify the division and see how long we can stay at this weight, maybe more guys are keen to fight him now.”
- Ennis eyeing weight move? “My performance was okay, it’s time to go to 154. I felt good but will be way better, was prepared for whatever he had coming, glad to win but only onto bigger and better [things],” he tells DAZN’s Chris Mannix in post-fight interview
- Matchroom chief keen on showdown between Ennis and former divisional rival Vergil Ortiz Jr at light-middleweight on a Riyadh Season show, long mooted for February 22 in Saudi Arabia: “The plan was to unify but he’ll probably move up, Ennis vs. Ortiz Jr is one of the sport’s best fights.”
JARON Ennis was supposed to follow up his successful Philadelphia homecoming with another highlight reel stoppage, one setting up an even bigger 2025 after dismissing David Avanesyan in five rounds four months ago.
Instead, the sport’s consensus top dog at welterweight frustrated as much as he fired off promising combinations and didn’t exactly listen to dad Bozy in the corner between rounds against a noticeably improved, buoyant challenger in IBF mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian during what became a 12-round slog.
A chopping left hook behind the ear in the first frame was a sign of things to come, Chukhadzhian no longer content to survive or coast through rounds unscathed with a champion still making his way in a division without a bonafide dance partner after former undisputed kingpin Terence Crawford ventured up another weight class.
More came in the second, Chukhadzhian’s left was landing plenty and his unorthodox movement serving to expose Ennis’ defensive weaknesses, being tagged too often and not adjusting well either. Just as soon as the DAZN broadcast were praising the challenger’s markedly different approach this time around, he was on one knee watching the referee count at him, looking to recover in the fifth.
Left hands and an onslaught of unanswered uppercuts saw the veteran look for some brief respite, rather than be floored by an avalanche he couldn’t fire back quickly enough from. Sergio Mora insisted he would be there until the final bell, swinging away causing Ennis issues and while not immediately obvious, that’s exactly how it played out – much to the annoyance of the 11,000-strong Philly crowd.
Said to be having fun and enjoying his work more in the sixth, Bozy had a distinctively difference stance on his son’s performance: stop playing with your food, in not so many words.
This constant command to finish him, rather than give concise instructions on how to do exactly that for large periods, saw the IBF world champion’s dad-and-coach heavily criticised, yet his son would hardly have listened to any nuanced feedback.
“I wanted to be better than last time, was just rushing but it’s okay. I heard everything he [Bozy] was saying, listening and not at the same time… use more angles, jab more and not stand in-front but I did the opposite.
When you fight bottom-tier guys, you don’t wanna get up [in motivation to fight] for them, bigger names will make me better.”
- Ennis on his dad’s instructions, staying motivated for mandatories and more
It was that sort of puzzling performance from a prizefighter unable to crack the highest echelon within his weight division so far, despite a series of lucrative fantasy fights being mooted for over a year now. This didn’t help move the needle closer.
Chukhadzhian produced a good eighth round, Ennis agitated by the calculated clinching his Ukrainian opponent was doing a round later, and eventually referee Harvey Dock deducted a point from the challenger for excessive holding in the tenth.
“You ain’t moving, you’re standing there… no faking, catch him coming in!” implored Bozy but his son had other ideas, respecting the right-hands flashing his way in the penultimate round before Chukhadzhian’s excellent R12 ended this rematch on a sour note. Stubborn and savvy opposition in a different way this time, the 28-year-old made the champion look beatable in a way many others haven’t managed.
Former WBC light-flyweight world champion Pedro Guevara was sharply outclassed, dropped twice and blitzed in three rounds against Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (2:47) as the pound-for-pound star’s stay-busy assignment before a busy 2025 went just as expected.
The 24-year-old, who memorably unified IBF and WBO world titles at 112lbs against Sunny Edwards last December, has moved back up in weight since then and spoke openly in the build-up to this clash about how he feels at home with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom banner.
Widely considered the world’s best boxer not named Naoya Inoue under 122lbs, the skilled southpaw has a wealth of options but wants the biggest opportunities – whether that’s headlining his own San Antonio show or venturing to Saudi shores in a new weight class perhaps after hinting bantamweight isn’t too far from fruition.
“I knew it was going to happen that way, onto the next. I was just trying to prove too much to everyone, getting out of my gameplan and go for the knockout – that’s not who I am as a fighter, but tonight you saw who I am. I’m ready to unify right now but if it doesn’t come, why not?”
- Bam on learning from previous mistakes against lesser opposition and a possible fight with Roman ‘Choclatito’ Gonzalez
Rest of the card’s results
Super-featherweight: Raymond Ford bt. Orlando Gonzalez via UD10 (99-89, 100-88 x 2)
Light-heavyweight: Khalil Coe bt. Manuel Gallegos bt. Khalil Coe via R9 TKO (0:07), wins WBC USA title
Middleweight: Austin Williams bt. Gian Garrido via R5 TKO (1:04)
Welterweight: Ismail Muhammad bt. Nelson Morales via UD4 (40-36 x 3)
Super-bantamweight: Dennis Thompson bt. Edgar Ortiz Jr via R2 TKO (2:59)
Super-featherweight: Zaquin Moses bt. Michael Ruiz via UD4 (40-36 x 4)
Picture source: Mark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing
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