Derek “Bozy” Ennis, the father and trainer of Jaron Ennis, considers Ryan Garcia an ideal opponent for his son.
The 27-year-old Ennis, of Philadelphia, makes a second consecutive appearance in front of his home crowd at the Wells Fargo Center, where he defends his IBF welterweight crown against familiar foe Karen Chukhadzhian of Ukraine, 28, on Saturday. The fight marks a rematch of their encounter in January 2023, when Ennis outpointed his opponent.
Despite the danger posed by Chukhadzhian, Ennis Snr is already looking past him.
“I hope it’s the truth,” he told Fight Hype TV. “So, I’d rather fight him. He got a bigger name and bigger following. So that’s the only right thing to do.”
Ennis, 32-0 (29 KOs), is weighing up his options at 147lbs with the aim of dominating and becoming the undisputed champion. He wants to unify against the likes of the Mario Barrios, Eimantas Stanionis, and Brian Norman Jnr before considering a move to 154lbs.
“Well, like I said, we want to get the belts at 147,” he said. “That’s how we get elevated. I don’t care who it is. The WBO, WBC, or the WBA – that’s how we get elevated. Once we clear that out, then we move on through the same in the next division.
“We’re moving up anyway. We’re gonna meet them sooner or later anyway.”
However, the only fighter standing in the way of Ennis’ dreams is Chukhadzhian, 24-2 (13 KOs). The Ukrainian fought his way back into title contention following his unanimous-decision defeat by Ennis. He is on a three-fight winning streak, and he is ready to make his maiden championship fight count.
Ennis Snr is confident his son can end the fight abruptly with an emphatic win.
“I’s gonna be a little different this time,” he said. “Like, last time when he fought him, we didn’t know the guy was gonna run. So, every round he ran through the fights. So, this time, it’s gonna be a different situation. ‘Boots’ is trying to just go for the knockout instead of doing what he normally does. So, this time we’re gonna cut the ring down properly.
“Because he knows how to do it anyway, but this time we’re gonna really show people how to cut the ring off. Instead of following the guy because he’s so anxious, he could knock him out and forget to start cutting the ring off.”
Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].
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