Live from the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Jaron Ennis and Jessie Rodriguez co-headline a card streaming on DAZN. Ennis is in the main event in a rematch with Karen Chukhadzhian in his hometown, so technically, he is rightfully at the top of the bill. But respect must be shown as well to pound-for-pounder Jessie Rodriguez, who is taking on a top ten foe, Super Fly division Pedro Guevara. Rounding out the card with Raymond Ford and Ernesto Mercado makes for what should be an entertaining night in the city of love.
Boots Ennis’s main goal on Saturday night is to get the victory and look spectacular doing it in front of his home crowd. In their first meeting back in 2023, in a strange way Karen made Ennis look somewhat ordinary. That said, Karen spoiled the action and was clearly trying to survive all 12 rounds. This boxing podcaster believes that was the case, but it also was a case of Ennis not being able to cut off the ring and land as many meaningful shots as we’re used to seeing. At the end of the night, it was Karen’s fault more than Boots for what was a run-of-the-mill fight.
Taking a deeper dive into the punch stats courtesy of Compubox, Ennis did outland Karen 203 to 92 and threw 582 punches to 573. The vast majority of Karen’s lands were non-jabs but not really full-on power shots. Ennis didn’t even lose a round on the judge’s scorecard by the way. Even if it means taking more punches, Boots will be aggressive early, and often is my guess.
No disrespect to Chuckhadshian but it feels like Boots will get the stoppage this time around. It could be Boots being frustrated at having to take this rematch to keep his belt and the fact he can’t get a bigger fight. Either way, look for Ennis to take out his anger on Karen securing a knockout.
My official prediction is Boots Ennis will be by late stoppage.
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On to the co-feature which matches a rising star Bam Rodriguez with a sturdy guy in Pedro Guevara. The 20-0 Bam has been on an absolute tear every since his fight against Carlos Cuadras. In his last two outings Bam took apart future hall of famer Juan Francisco Estrada and then unbeaten Sunny Edwards. Jessie did touch the canvas in the sixth round only to take out Estrada a round later.
Pedro Guevara is fresh off a solid victory over Andrew Moloney via split decision. Guevara last loss came via SD to Carlos Cuadras. All the way back in 2017, Pedro went the distance, losing by majority decision to Kenshiro Teraji. The point of this paragraph is to say Pedro Guevara is a very good fighter with a ton of experience. Sure, he doesn’t have much power, with only 22 knockouts in 47 fights. He does have the know-how to be crafty enough to give Bam some minor issues in the early goings.
Bam went the distance with Israel Gonzalez and Cristian Gonzalez Hernandez. At 35, the wear and tear could catch up to Pedro, especially facing a versatile boxer like Bam. Beyond some even rounds in the first part of this fight, Bam should pull away comfortably. Rodriguez’s ability to box on the outside, at range, and use angles on the inside gives him too many paths to victory over Pedro Guevara.
My Official Prediction is Bam Rodriguez by Unanimous Decision.
Side Note: Keep your eye on the Keyshawn Davis vs. Gustavo Lemos main event on Friday on ESPN+. The bummer is Lemos blew weight, which could be to his advantage but also may mean he had a bad training camp or injury.
Written by Chris Carlson, Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
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