Fighting Words: Boots Ennis’ and Bam Rodriguez’s current obligations and future temptations

The November 9 doubleheader in Philadelphia featuring Jaron “Boots” Ennis headlining in his hometown and Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in the co-feature is a mixed bag.

Both men are facing their mandatory challengers. One fight, Ennis’ rematch with Karen Chukhadzhian, is both unnecessary and undesirable. This show is not only about their current obligations, but about setting the table for future temptations. 

It’s just a question of which weight division will host those collisions.

Ennis, 32-0 (29 KOs), was left with a bare cupboard at welterweight following last year’s fight between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jnr for the undisputed championship. Ennis was seen as the top remaining contender, but Crawford departed for junior middleweight. Spence is also expected to move up and challenge unified 154lbs titleholder Sebastian Fundora next.

As Crawford vacated his titles, Ennis was among the many welterweights to get an upgrade. 

Ennis had been the interim IBF belt holder dating back to January 2023, when he first defeated Chukhadzhian via shutout, taking the decision 120-108 on all three scorecards. He defended the interim belt with a 10th-round knockout of Roiman Villa in July 2023, then became the full titleholder in November 2023. Ennis returned after a yearlong layoff and made his first defense this past July. He was supposed to face Cody Crowley but instead sent late replacement David Avanesyan packing after five rounds.

The cupboard is beginning to be restocked, though what’s within isn’t necessarily as appetizing as what’s available elsewhere.

The three other titleholders elevated after Crawford exited were Eimantas Stanionis (WBA), Mario Barrios (WBC) and Brian Norman Jnr (WBO).

All three of them, in addition to Ennis, have yet to defeat another top-tier welterweight. 

Ennis sought to make a unification fight with Norman, in part to avoid this insipid rematch with Chukhadzhian. They couldn’t reach an agreement, however. Depending on your stance: Either Norman wanted more money than Ennis’ promoter, Matchroom Boxing, felt was appropriate, or Matchroom offered less money than Norman’s team felt was appropriate.

Barrios and Stanionis are both affiliated with Premier Boxing Champions. Stanionis’ next fight will likely come against his mandatory challenger, Shakhram Giyasov. The WBA has ordered a purse bid, scheduled for November 8, to try to make Stanionis vs. Giyasov happen.

PBC, once one of the sport’s biggest promoters, has been far less active in 2024 in the wake of its previous home, Showtime, withdrawing from boxing at the end of 2023. A vaunted deal with Amazon’s Prime Video has not yet led to a resurgence for PBC and its fighters. This year, there have been four pay-per-views (Tim Tszyu-Sebastian Fundora, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Jaime Munguia, Gervonta Davis-Frank Martin, and Canelo-Edgar Berlanga) and one non-PPV (Bakhram Murtazaliev-Tszyu).

Hopefully, there will be far more PBC shows in 2025. But either way, the company may be willing to make certain fights with other promoters, even if it involves other networks. (This type of approach would be in Matchroom’s best interests as well.) Perhaps Barrios or Stanionis could face Ennis. Or perhaps they will instead face each other.

“I’m not looking past [Chukhadzhian], but after I do my thing and win in spectacular fashion, I want the rest of the welterweight belts, and to stay busy,” Ennis told Manouk Akopyan of BoxingScene. “If they are playing around, maybe we’ll be at 154lbs, maybe not. We’ll see.”

There’s not much else of note at 147. The Ring’s Top 10 list includes the likes of Avanesyan, Giovani Santillan (who lost to Norman in May); Giyasov; Alexis Rocha (who lost to Santillan in 2023); Jin Sasaki and Raul Curiel. The Transnational Boxing Ratings Board includes many of the same names, as well as Souleymane Cissokho and Tulani Mbenge.

The IBF has Chukhadzhian, 24-2 (13 KOs), at No. 1, a vacancy at No. 2, Sasaki at No. 3 and Conor Benn – who is also with Matchroom, was suspended in the United Kingdom after testing positive for banned substances, and is aiming for a fight with middleweight Chris Eubank Jnr – at No. 4.

After that comes Lewis Crocker, Paddy Donovan, Rocha, Giyasov, Nicklaus Flaz, Josh Wagner, Curiel, David Papot, Vitaly Petryakov, Kenneth Sims Jnr and Christopher Guerrero.

Fighters shouldn’t be expected to move up or down in weight classes unless they are comfortable doing so. They should be accepted for competing where they feel they are at their best. But it is also exciting when a fighter changes divisions to chase the allure of tougher challenges and bigger paydays, as if they are hunters following their next meal into new and more dangerous territory.

That new territory for Ennis could be junior middleweight, one of the deepest weight classes in boxing. The titleholders there are Crawford (WBA), Fundora (WBC and WBO) and Murtazaliev (IBF), and they are joined by contenders Serhii Bohachuk, Charles Conwell, Erickson Lubin, Israil Madrimov, Vergil Ortiz Jnr and, presumably, Spence. On the fringe for now is Tszyu, who will need to rebuild after his drubbing at the hands of Murtazaliev.

“That weight is poppin’ right now,” Ennis said. “Everybody up there. Hopefully, you might see me up there. You never know.”

The situation is quite different for Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.

Rodriguez has already faced – and emphatically beaten – three of the top junior bantamweights of this era.

He stepped in on late notice, and stepped up in weight, to outpoint Carlos Cuadras in February 2022 for a vacant world title. Rodriguez then stopped Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in June 2022. After one more defense, Rodriguez moved back down to flyweight in 2023, won a vacant world title and then unified with a stoppage win over Sunny Edwards. This past June, Rodriguez returned to 115 and took out lineal champion and WBC titleholder Juan Francisco Estrada via seventh-round body-shot knockout.

The only member left of the modern-day “Four Kings” is Roman Gonzalez, though imagining him in with Rodriguez may bring a squeamish feeling to those who worry whether a post-prime “Chocolatito” would be in too much danger against Rodriguez.

But first, Rodriguez, 20-0 (13 KOs), must fight his mandatory challenger, Pedro Guevara, who holds the WBC’s interim belt.

Guevara, 42-4-1 (22 KOs), has been around the sport for ages. At 35, this could be his final campaign for the throne. He lost a split decision to John Riel Casimero back in 2012 for a junior flyweight title. Two years later, in December 2014, Guevara won his first and only world title, knocking out Akira Yaegashi in seven rounds for the vacant WBC belt at 108. He lost it in his third defense, dropping a split decision to Yu Kimura in November 2015.

Guevara also lost a majority decision to Kenshiro Teraji in October 2017 and a split decision to Cuadras in November 2023 in a fight for the WBC’s interim title at 115. But this May, the WBC again had a vacant interim belt on the line, and this time Guevara topped Andrew Moloney by split decision.

The junior bantamweight division isn’t as loaded as it once was, but there are some good fights available if Rodriguez defeats Guevara and opts to remain at this weight.

That includes the winner of a rematch between Fernando Martinez and Kazuto Ioka, expected for December 31 but not yet official (Martinez defeated Ioka in July to unify the IBF and WBA titles but just vacated the IBF); a unification bout with WBO titleholder Phumelele Cafu; a fight with “Chocolatito” or a bout with the man Cafu edged for that belt, Kosei Tanaka.

There are also several options three pounds north at bantamweight, whether that’s Nakatani (WBC); his fellow Japan-based titleholders Ryosuke Nishida (IBF), Seiya Tsutsumi (WBA) or Yoshiki Takei (WBO); or a number of solid contenders, including multiple fighters who used to own world titles themselves.

For now, it seems as if Rodriguez’s goal is to remain at 115.

“I have to get past this fight first, but the goal is to go for undisputed in 2025,” he was quoted as saying in a recent press release. “I’m taking this fight as seriously as ever, training my ass off like any other fight. We’re going to handle business and then we can talk about 2025.”

Rodriguez is co-promoted by Matchroom Boxing and Teiken Promotions, which is headquartered in Japan. He has never fought as a pro outside of the United States or Mexico. Although Rodriguez stands atop the junior bantamweight division, it may make more business sense to share a main event in Japan alongside one of that country’s fighters.

Rodriguez has never shied away from challenges before. Not when he was a prospect stepping up to face Cuadras. And not in his moves since throughout 2022, 2023 and 2024. Where will Rodriguez’s ambitions bring him in 2025?

He and Ennis first have a pair of obligations to deal with days from now. Then they can set their sights on their next fights in the months to come.

David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2 and @UnitedBoxingPod. He is the co-host of the United Boxing Podcast. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.