IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis is chasing greatness with an admirable urgency.
He is back in action on Saturday night in a rematch with Karen Chukhadzhian at the Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia. Some believe the rematch is unnecessary, considering Boots shut Chukhadzian out in their first meeting in November 2023.
Still, Ennis hasn’t had the easiest time getting fights against the more prominent names in his weight region.
The 27-year-old Philly native might be the most avoided fighter in the welterweight division. Ennis chased a fight with pound-for-pound contender Terence Crawford for over a year, but Bud declined because the two men were at different points in their careers.
Crawford isn’t afraid of anyone, but he’s hunting the most prominent names and paydays like a fight with Canelo Alvarez. At this point in Ennis and Crawford’s career, the fight doesn’t make sense to the latter, and he’s the A-side.
I spoke to Ennis heading into the fight with Chukhadzian, and he told me he is no longer chasing a fight with Crawford, but he also mentioned that Bud wasn’t the only former world champion who declined offers to fight him.
“He wasn’t the only guy that I was trying to fight,” Ennis told me during an exclusive interview. “I was trying to fight him. I was trying to fight Errol Spence, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter at one point. I was trying to fight all of those guys at the top. That was my goal. That’s how I was going to make my mark. But, it went a different way. It was out of my hands, so it is what it is. I’m going to be great regardless.”
Here is a look at that segment of the interview.
Ennis is as ambitious and talented as you’ll find in the sport among fighters in his age range. He is hunting for the signature win to elevate him to the next level. At 32-0 with 29 KOs, Ennis has the record and KO rate of a top pound-for-pound fighter.
However, neither ESPN nor The Ring Magazine currently have him ranked as one of the ten best fighters in the world, regardless of weight class. The reason for the omission isn’t rooted in disrespect. I believe everyone knows Ennis is a top-notch talent. However, he hasn’t beaten the competition necessary to elevate him to that level at this point in his career.
That’s why his unsuccessful attempts to fight the likes of Crawford, Spence, Porter, and Thurman make it all the more frustrating. If Ennis defeats Chukhadzian again, chances are he still won’t receive the respect and elevation he probably deserves.
However, it was necessary as the Ukrainian became the mandatory challenger. One issue for Ennis is that his rise occurred during a rare dead period for the welterweight division. Usually, you can find a group of legit pound-for-pound contenders in the weight class.
For years, Crawford, Spence, Porter, and Thurman were considered the class of the division. They had taken over for Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. No one had to carry the division alone. Ennis is by far the most popular 147-pound champion, with the WBO’s Brian Norman, WBC’s Mario Barrios, and WBA’s Eimantas Stanionis scrapping for a distant second.
Norman and Ennis were working on a unification fight, but things fell apart. There are several takes on what broke down the talks, but had that fight taken place, we probably wouldn’t be getting the Ennis rematch with Chukhadzian. In their first meeting, Chukhadzian succeeded in going the distance with Ennis.
Only two other fighters that Boots has faced can make that claim. Chukhadzian also succeeded in preventing Boots from turning him into a showcase fight. In the rematch, both men will try to improve their performance from the first fight. If Chukhadzian could survive again and succeed more, he would have raised his stock. If he somehow pulls the massive upset, his career skyrockets.
If Ennis destroys Chukhadzian and gets the finish, he can make one of the loudest statements of the combat sports weekend. Perhaps it will set up the meeting between him and Norman, which could be the biggest fight in the division. At some point, Ennis will get the stage he craves. In the meantime, he has to handle the business he’s expected to handle.
The journey continues on Saturday.
