Both the fighter, Jaron “Boots” Ennis, and the promoter, Eddie Hearn, were less than thrilled over the recent order from the IBF for welterweight titlist Ennis to make a defense against Karen Chukhadzian, a man Ennis has already beaten (in a dull fight back in early 2023) – Hearn has revealed how he has made a “substantial offer to Mario Barrios to fight Jaron Ennis.”
Hearn’s take is this: “Boots” will take the completely needless return fight with Chukhadzian if he has to in order to keep his belt, and if the fight can get done and dusted quickly, but the grand plan is for Ennis to engage in unification fights, hence the offer to Barrios, who holds a strap at 147.
Hearn has made no secret of the fact that he fully believes he can and will make Ennis a genuine superstar of the sport, and big fights are what Hearn is really interested in making, not pointless return meetings with fighters “Boots” has already seen off.
“The mandatory has been called, and I’m not over the moon about it because – it’s a good fighter in Chukhadzian but it’s someone that he’s boxed before,” Hearn said on a Matchroom video. “There’s nothing we can do in terms of the mandatory that’s been called, but we want to make the biggest fights out there. So it’s frustrating. If it’s a fight that has to be ticked off quickly, well, we’ll do it. But we want big fights for Conor Benn and particularly for Jaron Ennis. Maybe they fight each other. But the plan for Boots, unquestionably, is to be in unification fights.”
Boxing politics, eh…….. Ennis will only be wasting time by fighting Chukhadzian again, but as Hearn said, what can he do? Ennis wants to keep hold of his IBF belt and then win the other titles at the weight as he unifies the division. It is likely, then, that Ennis will do the IBF’s bidding. The fans who saw the first fight between “Boots” and Chukhadzian will be no less frustrated than Hearn.
Moving on, Ennis against Benn would be a fun fight, but Hearn is now waiting to hear back from Barrios, who holds the WBC interim belt: “let’s see what he says,” Hearn said of Barrios. Indeed.
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