Karen Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs) showed his class, praising IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) after losing to him by a competitive 12-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
(Credit: Amanda Westcott Matchroom Boxing)
Chukhadzhian said in an interview after the fight that Ennis, 27, doesn’t need to go after the undisputed championship because he’s “too good” for welterweight.
Unfortunately, Ennis wasn’t giving Chukhadzhian credit in return, blaming his off performance on not being motivated for a “bottom tier” fighter. Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, said that he was getting hit so much because he wasn’t “really motivated.”
It looked to the fans and to me that Chukhadzhian was more talented than Ennis. Yes, he lost the fight to Ennis because he held too much, didn’t throw enough punches, was knocked down in the fifth, and had a point deducted for excessive clinching in the tenth round.
Fans on social media are collectively saying that Chukhadzhian “exposed flaws” in Boots Ennis’ game, and some felt that he did enough to deserve the win. The judges scored it wide in Boots’ favor by the scores 119-107, 117-109 and 116-110.
Chukhadzhian Praises Boots
“There’s no need for undisputed welterweight. He’s too good for this,” said Karen Chukhadzhian to Fight Hub TV, giving praise to Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis after losing to him on Saturday night.
“I threw more punches, and I took more punches,” said Chukhadzhian about how the fight played out compared to the previous one against Ennis last year. ”
“They’re going to look at that performance and fancy their chances,” said Eddie Hearn to the media about fighters who will potentially want to fight Ennis now after his weak performance against Chukhadzhian. “Oscar De La Hoya has tweeted, “We’re ready. Vergil Ortiz against Boots.’ I like that.
The three other champions at 147 aren’t to agree to fight Ennis unless Hearn meets their asking price. They’ll still know from watching Ennis’ performance tonight that he’d beat them, and they won’t want to give up their belt without being paid top dollar by Hearn.
“What De La Hoya has got to understand is that when Boots is fighting those guys, it’s all about making it entertaining. The first fight [with Chukhadzhian] was a stinker. I think that was a good fight tonight, but I also think that guy [Chukhadzhian] beats most 147-pounders.
Hearn Explains Why Ennis Struggled
“I think he’s a good fighter, but Boots was trying to make it exciting, trying to get him out of there. He doesn’t have a lot of regard about what’s coming back. He’s getting hit too much because he’s not really motivated.”
It looked like Ennis was plenty motivated, but he couldn’t figure out how to handle the angles that Chukhadzhian was using, and was thrown off by his footwork. He fought like a smaller version if Israil Madrimov, but without his power. You could see that Chukhadzhian’s punches were as powerful as Boots Ennis, and he watching him frequently with shots that he didn’t see coming.
“Against Stanionis, against Norman, and against Barrios, it’s going to be different. Against Ortiz, it’s going to be different, and the performance has got to be different. He [Ennis] and Bozy know that performance might not be good enough to beat one of those guys. But it’ll be a different performance against one of those guys. Don’t worry about that,” said Hearn.
It sounds like Hearn is saying that he believes the welterweight champions are better fighters than Chukhadzhian, and don’t think you can make that argument after tonight unless you had your eyes closed. Based on how Chukhadzhian looked tonight, he beats the welterweight champions Stanionis, Norman, and Barrios.
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