IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) weighed in at 146 lbs, while Challenger Karen Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs) came in at 146.6 pounds for their 12-round headliner this Saturday, November 9th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing)
WBC super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) weighed in at 114.8 lbs, and Challenger Pedro Guevara (42-4-1, 22 KOs) came in at 114.4 lbs for their 12-round co-feature bout on the card.
Saturday’s Ennis vs. Chukhadzhain event will be shown live on DAZN beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Weights
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis 146 vs. Karen Chukhadzhian 146.6
Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez 114.8 vs. Pedro Guevara 114.4
There’s not a lot of fan interest in this card despite the promotional muscle Matchroom and DAZN have put behind it. The problem is there’s no demand for a rematch between Boots and Chukhadzhian in the main event. Bam Rodriguez, 24, isn’t well known to casual boxing fans for these reasons:
– Youth
– Fighting in lower weight classes
– Lack of experience against elite-level competition
“It cost me a load of money, but what do you want me to do about it? Sulk? It’s the rules,” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing News about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis being ordered to fight Karen Chukhadzhian in a rematch, which few people are excited about seeing.
Hearn could have put his foot down and refused to allow Ennis to fight Chukhadzhian in a rematch because this is a move that hurts both. Ennis career will be stunted with these types of fights, and it does nothing for Hearn.
“I really admire the IBF for sticking by their rules, but it frustrates the life out of me that they don’t apply common sense to this station. We wanted more time to make the Brian Norman fight for the unification fight,” said Hearn.
Even with more negotiating time, Hearn wouldn’t have got the unification match with WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. put together for Boots because he wanted more money than he was willing to pay. Hearn could have had ages, but he still wouldn’t have gotten the deal done without coming up with the extra $500,000 that Norman Jr. wanted.
“We ran out of time. We had a purse bid. It was either lose your belt or fight Chukhadzhian,” said Hearn. “I said to Boots, ‘You tell me what you want to do, mate. I’ll back you 100%. If I have to stick the money up for this fight, I’ll stick the money up because it’s part of a long-term plan. You’re going to be ruling the sport for a long time.’”
We don’t know if Ennis will be ruling the sport for a long time, as Hearn says. We know if Boots stays at welterweight, he could hold onto his IBF title for possibly a long time, but that’s only because the division is weak. It’s perhaps the weakest level in 20+ years. All the talented fighters are at 154, and Boots doesn’t want to move up for some reason. Is it fear? Some boxing fans believe that’s the reason Boots would have the easy pickings at junior middleweight, which he does at 147.
The best fighters at 147:
- Jaron Ennis
- Brian Norman
- Mario Barrios
- Eimantas Stanionis
- Ryan Garcia
- Devin Haney
“He said, ‘I want the belts at 147.’ I said, ‘Then let’s fight him. Get it done. I’m going to build a massive card. Let’s make it happen. So, we did it, and on Saturday night, I think we’re going to get a good fight,” said Hearn.
If Ennis is going to stay at welterweight until he accomplishes his goal of becoming undisputed, he must be prepared to sacrifice time in his career. As long as Ennis is fine with staying at welterweight for another three or four years to accomplish his goal, he’ll be fine. He may be in his 30s by the time he does, and it’ll be more difficult for him to transition into the 154-lb weight class when he does move up.
