Jaron Ennis says Karen Chukhadzhian fight was ‘OK performance’ as Vergil Ortiz fight looms

IBF welterweight titleholder Jaron Ennis was left with a lukewarm feeling following a ho-hum, workmanlike unanimous decision win in a rematch against Karen Chukhadzhian on Saturday.

Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) dropped his mandatory challenger but failed to stop him as many anticipated, and as he promised. Instead, Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs) showed a much better account of himself than their initial meeting last year and won several rounds across the scorecards, leaving many questioning Ennis’ defense. Judges scored the fight 119-107, 117-109, and 116-110. Chukhadzhian was also docked a point for holding. 

Chukhadzhian landed 173 of 522 shots, while Ennis countered with 224 of 730. In their 2023 fight, the Armenian from Ukraine landed 97 of 573 shots, while Ennis landed 207 of 592.

“He had good toughness. He wasn’t really moving too much,” Ennis said during his post-fight press conference at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. “After I dropped him, I felt like he was holding ever since then. That’s on me though. I have to take a half-step back and start ripping shots and using angles and listen a bit more. My dad [and trainer Bozy] was saying everything right but I wasn’t doing it.

“I felt like it was an okay performance. I could have been way better. I could have listened to my team more and stopped being lazy, not bending my knees, not using angles, not jabbing, and just being smart.

“Next fight I’m going to be better … I felt good [at 147] but I am getting older. We’ll talk to the team to see what we’re going to do. I made weight easily, but we’ll see.”

Ennis can now turn the page following the rematch no one asked for against Chukhadzhian and focus on either welterweight title unification fights against champions Mario Barrios (WBC), Brian Norman Jnr (WBO) and Eimantas Stanionis (WBA) or move up to 154 pounds to face Vergil Ortiz Jr. 

Ennis promoter and Matchroom Boxing head Eddie Hearn alluded that a fight against Ortiz Jnr could be next, perhaps on February 22 in Saudi Arabia. 

“I always want to fight the best,” Ennis said regarding a potential fight against Ortiz. “I don’t want to fight no bottom-tier guys. When you fight the best, you’re going to be better … All they are doing is adding fuel to the fire for my next performance. That’s what I need. That’s what I want. The next fight is going to be even better. I’m not even worried about it.”

Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter whose work has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports, USA Today, The Guardian, Newsweek, Men’s Health, NFL.com, Los Angeles Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Ring Magazine and more. He has been writing for BoxingScene since 2018. Manouk is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.