Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) defeated Karen Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs) for the second time in two years. This time around, the fight was much more entertaining as Chukhadzhian followed through on his promise to be more aggressive, stay in the pocket, and exchange with Boots.
(Credit: Amanda Westcott)
The match took place at the Wells Fargo Center in front of Boots’ hometown crowd. He aimed to put on a show for them and stated he wanted the knockout victory. He successfully dropped Karen in round five but was ultimately unable to finish him. This could be due to Chukhadzhian’s toughness and durability, as he’s never lost a fight by knockout. He’s the only fighter to ever go the distance, twice against Ennis.
Chukhadzhian was much more effective, landing 33 percent of his punches this time around, but Jaron states he wanted the knockout and, in doing so, sacrificed defense during the exchanges. Jarron outlanded Karen through the match landing 224 punches to 173 respectively. Many feel Boots underperformed and took to Twitter to criticize him. Both Ryan Garcia and Terence Crawford were critical of his performance; when asked about it at the post-fight press conference, Boots failed to comment on Terence Crawford’s assessment. He did provide a response for Ryan, stating he would be willing to meet him in the ring.
Promoter Eddie Hearn stated he and Jaron would sit down and see what the best option for him would be going forward, whether that be a unification match at 147 or a superstar matchup at 154 pounds against Vergil Ortiz Jr. The latter appears to be the more favorable option, as it’s rumored Turki Alalshikh has an interest in such a match and would make a favorable offer to both parties. This would be a great fight that would generate great interest among fans of the sport. The match could be placed on a promoter versus promoter card, similar to the 5 on 5 earlier this year between Queensberry and Matchroom.
In the co-main event, Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) stole the show by dominating Pedro Guevara (42-5-1, 22 KOs) and finishing him via a third-round knockout. Pedro had proven durable, having never been knocked out in his career. Demonstrating Bam’s strength and elite skills. He masterfully broke him down, making quick work of him. Bam landed three times the punches Guevara did, 64 to 21, with 43.8 percent of them being power punches.
After the match, Bam was asked about a potential matchup against Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez; he stated that he would be willing to fight him as it would be a great
fight and one the fans would enjoy. Eddie Hearn stated at the post-fight press conference he would like Bam’s next fight to be in his hometown of San Antonio, Texas.
Source: Compubox