Boxing fans would be forgiven for wondering what reason there is to tune in for Saturday's fight between IBF welterweight champion Jaron "Boots" Ennis and Karen Chukhadzhian. On its surface, Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian represents the worst part of mandatory challengers, with Ennis having already routed Chukhadzhian over 12 shutout rounds in January 2023.
Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs) didn't exactly rip through the toughest competition to earn a rematch with Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs), one of boxing's brightest young stars, picking up a bounceback win over Michel Marcano before picking up one of the IBF's various trinkets against Pietro Rossetti and then securing the rematch in May with a win over Harry Scarff. And dimming fan excitement over the rematch, even more, is that Chukhadzhian's "tricky" and "crafty" style proved an annoyance as he forced Ennis into the least exciting fight of his career.
Boxing, however, is a business for more than just the fighters. The whims and financial benefits of promoters and sanctioning bodies all play into these decisions.
Because of this, the fight can be viewed through the lens of measuring Ennis' ability to analyze the first fight and make adjustments. He was never tested back then, but Ennis won't want to deliver the same kind of fight as the first go-round in front of his hometown Philadelphia crowd.
Ennis has been seen as one of the future leaders of the sport for years and finally became a world champion in November 2023, being elevated from the interim champ status he'd earned in the first Chukhadzhian fight to full world champion after then-undisputed champ Terence Crawford was stripped of the belt as planned his move up to the junior middleweight division. Prior to that, Ennis' path to 147-pound gold was blocked by a long-awaited fight between Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.
With a successful title defense against David Avanesyan under his belt, Ennis now has a chance to make a statement by being more impressive in his second time sharing the ring with Chukhadzhian.
Ennis isn't the only bright young star set to fight in Philadelphia's Wells Fargo Center on Saturday. WBC super flyweight champ Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) will be in action when he takes on interim champ Pedro Guevara (42-4-1, 22 KOs) in the co-feature.
Rodriguez went from decent prospect to Fighter of the Year candidate in 2022, jumping up a division on short notice to take the WBC junior bantamweight title against Carlos Cuadras, defending the belt against Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and then dropping back to flyweight to take the WBC belt in that division in a fight with Israel Gonzalez.
Rodriguez has fought three times since that brilliant 2022 campaign, most notably ripping through Sunny Edwards to unify the IBF and WBO belts at flyweight and then moving back to 115 pounds to regain the WBC junior bantamweight fight with a knockout of Juan Francisco Estrada.
In Guevara, Rodriguez faces a tough veteran who is less dangerous than Edwards or Estrada but won't roll over for the 24-year-old rising superstar.
Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian fight card, odds
- Jaron "Boots" Ennis (c) -4000 vs. Karen Chukhadzhian +1500, IBF welterweight title
- Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez (c) -1800 vs. Pedro Guevara +1000, WBC junior bantamweight title
- Raymond Ford vs. Orlando Gonzalez, junior lightweights
- Khalil Coe -2000 vs. Manuel Gallegos +900, light heavyweights
- Ernesto "Tito" Mercado -900 vs. Jesus Saracho +500, junior welterweights
Where to watch Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 9
- Location: Wells Fargo Arena -- Philadelphia
- Start time: 7 p.m. ET
- Streaming: DAZN
Prediction
Ennis owned the first meeting with a 120-108 on all three official scorecards, not losing a round in the eyes of any of the judges. At best, you could have found two awkward rounds to give Chukhadzhian on the strength of making things just ugly enough. But, if we're being honest, nothing in their first fight should give you any indication that Chukhadzhian has the skills or gameplan to beat someone of Ennis' talent level.
The question is whether Ennis can make a bigger statement in the rematch. Chukhadzhian is the only man to last 12 rounds with Ennis, so finding a way to get a stoppage would be a meaningful takeaway for the champ. Given a full fight of film to watch and having absorbed what it was like to deal with Chukhadzhian's style, it's fair to think Ennis might be able to find a stoppage in a fight that won't always be pleasant on the viewer's eyes. Pick: Jaron Ennis via TKO9