Jaron Ennis says he’s going to be “Stepping on” Karen Chukhadzhian in their rematch in 18 days on November 9th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphi.
The IBF welterweight champion ‘Boots’ Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) says it doesn’t bother him what people say about his performance the last time he fought the crafty Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs) on January 7th, last year in Washington, D.C. He’s going to go out and have his fun, make a statement and get a knockout in front of his fans in Philadelphia.
Is Boots Making the Same Mistake?
Ennis’ determination to get a knockout is what led to him getting made look silly the last time he fought Chukhadzhian because he was swinging wildly, trying hard to land a single-punch KO to impress the fans at Capitol One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Chukhadzhian took advantage of that desperation on Ennis’ part by making him miss, hitting him with counters, and dancing away. If he had any power, he’d have beaten Ennis in that fight because he caught Ennis a lot with his punches.
It would be wise for Boots to forget about trying to knock out Chukhadzhian and focus on out-boxing him this time. He can’t afford to have his stock drop in his second fight with Matchroom Boxing. Ennis didn’t look good in his last fight against David Avanesysan or his bout before that against Roiman Villa.
Boots needs to transition to becoming more of a boxer because he’s not a huge puncher, and his defense is porous. He’s getting hit a lot by his opponents at 147, trying to score knockouts. When Ennis moves up to 154 soon, he will be in trouble against the big punchers in that division.
They hit a lot harder than him, and they’ll capitalize on his poor defense to hurt him. It would be smart for Ennis to adapt now while he still can at welterweight before he moves up to junior middleweight and begins facing the bigger, stronger killers.
Ennis Doesn’t Care About Critics
“I’m glad I went the distance with him. I shut all the haters up, saying I couldn’t. They didn’t know I could go 12 rounds. I went 12 rounds like that with ease,” said Jaron Ennis to YSM Sports Media about him going the distance against Karen Chukhadzhian last year on January 7, 2023. “I wasn’t even breathing hard. I could have went 15 more.
“Every fight, they’re going to say this or say that. I don’t really care. I’m doing it for me. I’m going to put on a show. First of all, he’s the IBF mandatory. So, he’s been winning. He worked his way back up to #1, and with the IBF, everybody has got to fight their mandatory right now.
“We got to do what we got to do. Get him out of the way, handle business, and put on a show. Get him out of there, make a statement, and get on with the next. I’m not looking past him at all. I’m locking into Karen Chukhadzhian. This time, I’m stepping on him. It’s going to be a beautiful show. Another knockout coming, but I’m going to have fun with it, though,” said Ennis.
This talk of “stepping on” Chukhadzhian doesn’t sound good coming from Ennis, as it suggests that he hasn’t learned from his mistakes in their last fight. Ennis isn’t a big enough puncher or talented enough to step on a fighter like Chukhadzhian without being made to look bad.
The 27-year-old Ennis needs to shine in this fight because he’s fighting for the second time for Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom, and he already failed to negotiate a unification match for him and win the purse bid. That’s not a good sign.
When a promoter isn’t coming up with the money to negotiate fights for their fighter or win purse bids, that’s a signal that they’re not high on them. That’s why it’s important for Ennis to shine in this fight. If he looks great, he needs to vacate his IBF belt and move up to 154 because he has no opportunities for important fights at 147.
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