The rematch no one requested for served as little greater than a reminder of why no one requested for it.
A bit beneath two years after Jaron “Boots” Ennis shut out Karen Chukhadzhian over 12 dreary, irritating rounds in Washington, D.C., he repeated the feat in his hometown of Philadelphia, and the identical adjectives utilized. The variations have been that this time Ennis scored a knockdown, Chukhadzhian misplaced some extent for holding and the judges all discovered rounds to offer Chukhadzhian.
The official scores have been 119-107, 117-109 and 116-110, lifting Ennis’ document to 33-0 with 29 KOs – which may be subdivided into 31-0 with 29 KOs towards opponents not named Karen Chukhadzhian and 2-0 with 0 KOs towards the Ukrainian.
For causes that stay mystifying, the IBF made Chukhadzhian the obligatory challenger to Ennis’ welterweight title, which means Boots needed to face him a second time or hand over his belt. So face him a second time he did, this time in Ennis’ hometown, and promoter Matchroom USA, sensing Ennis Chukhadzhian II could not get potential prospects’ hearts pounding, beefed up the cardboard with a co-feature showcasing 115-pound champ Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.
However whereas Rodriguez dazzled and gained his struggle by KO, Ennis fought sloppily and raised the prospect that he’s stagnating by not being examined towards top-notch opponents.
“Whenever you’re preventing bottom-tier guys, generally you may’t rise up for them,” he glumly stated afterward. “Once I struggle prime guys, I’m going to be approach higher. I want prime guys.”
Chukhadzhian, for his half, got here to struggle this time – no less than early on, and when he wasn’t excessively holding. The 28-year-old challenger appeared maybe stung by the criticism of his unfavourable efficiency within the fighters’ preliminary assembly, and stood at vary extra within the rematch, cooperating at occasions with Ennis’ goals of scoring a knockout. However Ennis was additionally cooperating with Chukhadzhian, 24-3 (13 KOs), by permitting himself to be hit flush fairly a bit all through the struggle. That is the third struggle in a row wherein the 27-year-old mega-talent has displayed a good quantity of defensive carelessness.
Nonetheless, it appeared like Boots was on his strategy to the end result he desired within the fifth spherical. He landed a number of bombs alongside the ropes, and completed the sequence by sending the Ukrainian to the canvas with a proper uppercut. To his credit score, Chukhadzhian rose and fought again, and even landed just a few strong punches as Ennis grew sloppy in pursuit of an early ending that may ship the Wells Fargo Middle crowd residence glad.
From the sixth spherical on, Chukhadzhian included extra holding into his recreation, and referee Harvey Dock gave him a tough warning for it within the seventh. Chukhadzhian was outlanding Ennis within the ninth spherical, however he appeared to dare judges to not rating it for him by spending important chunks of the spherical mauling. Within the tenth, Dock lastly a took some extent from the challenger for making use of his vise grip.
Because the rounds ticked down and it grew to become clear Boots would once more be unable to complete the artful Chukhadzhian, the hometown fighter’s focus appeared to wane. He was clearly unconcerned about Chukhadzhian hurting him, however he did open the door for his lesser foe to tally just a few factors with the judges.
Neither the followers nor the fighters, nor promoter Eddie Hearn, appeared thrilled with the end result. It was a rematch that shouldn’t have occurred, however it was compelled upon Ennis and the Philadelphia devoted. Whether or not his popularity within the sport and his native drawing energy will now take a success is unclear. All he can do is attempt to put it behind him – and hope no one mandates Ennis-Chukhadzhian III.
Eric Raskin is a veteran boxing journalist with greater than 25 years of expertise masking the game for such retailers as BoxingScene, ESPN, Grantland, Playboy, Ringside Seat, and The Ring (the place he served as managing editor for seven years). He additionally co-hosted The HBO Boxing Podcast, Showtime Boxing with Raskin & Mulvaney, The Interim Champion Boxing Podcast with Raskin & Mulvaney, and Ring Principle. He has gained three first-place writing awards from the BWAA, for his work with The Ring, Grantland, and HBO. Exterior boxing, he’s the senior editor of CasinoReports and the writer of 2014’s The Moneymaker Impact. He may be reached on X or LinkedIn, or through e-mail at RaskinBoxing@yahoo.com.
