Jaron “Boots” Ennis(30-0, 27 KOs) was looking to have a star-making performance on Saturday night against Karen Chukhadzhian(21-2, 11 KOs) in the co-main event headlined by Gervonta Davis-Hector Luis Garcia at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.(Showtime PPV).
However, Chukhadzhian did not cooperate as he did a lot of moving and did not engage much, but in the end, Ennis won by unanimous decision to earn the vacant Interim IBF Welterweight Title.
The Philadelphia native, who went 12 rounds for the first time in his career, won all every round(120-108) on all judges’ three scorecards.
“I’m glad I went 12 rounds,” Ennis said after the win. “It felt great. I felt I was in the best shape. I just needed to throw a little more punches. I should have got him out of there.”
The 25-yard-old Ennis is having a hard time getting some of the top welterweights to fight him, so despite Chukhadzhian not engaging, Ennis gave him credit for taking the fight.
“He ran a lot,” Ennis said. “Hats off to him since a lot of guys didn’t want to fight me. So shout out to him for coming here and taking this fight.”
With the win, Ennis is the mandatory for unified(IBF/WBA/WBC) 147-pound champion Errol Spence Jr., who he wants next.
“Everyone knows I want Spence,” Ennis said. “I’ll keep waiting until the time is right and Spence is ready to take the fight.”
Ennis might have to wait to fight Spence, and who knows for how long.
If he has to wait, it might be in his best interest to fight another top-10 welterweight before fighting Spence or Terence Crawford; he might need just a bit more experience before he steps up to that level of competition, but his team thinks he’s ready, and Ennis thinks he’s ready, so we’ll see what happens.
Ennis didn’t get the spectacular knockout or the finish he wanted against Chukhadzhian, but he might have gotten something more valuable: rounds and experience.
Photo: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions
