Promoter says Jaron Ennis will need to be better, and will be, in next fight

Jaron “Boots” Ennis’ promoter says there were pros and cons to the welterweight titleholder’s “decent, not spectacular” performance in his rematch last Saturday with Karen Chukhadzhian.

Their first fight, for the interim IBF welterweight title in January 2023, was an unentertaining shutout win for Ennis. This time, with Ennis defending the full IBF belt, Chukhadzhian performed much better, showed much more aggression and landed some solid shots, although “Boots” still won via unanimous decision.

That may have dropped Ennis’ stock in the eyes of some fans, but that same perception might also convince some opponents to face the 27-year-old from Philadelphia.

“Boots seemed to be more focused on trying to make the fight exciting for the fans, and in turn got hit probably a little bit more than he should,” said Eddie Hearn of Matchroom Boxing in an interview with The Ariel Helwani Show. “I mean he won virtually every round of the fight, but not a performance that I wanted to scream and shout from the turnbuckle. But definitely a performance that might make it a little bit easier to match him.”

The question is whether Ennis, who has competed in the welterweight division for much of the past eight years, will want to remain at 147 or move up to junior middleweight.

“It will either be a unification [at welterweight] or a big fight at 154 next,” said Hearn, who mentioned a junior middleweight bout with contender Vergil Ortiz Jnr first and then WBA titleholder Terence Crawford. “He will have to be better,” Hearn said, “if he’s fighting that kind of level of opposition.”

Hearn said that it’s not only a matter of “will have to be,” but that Ennis indeed will be, that this performance was representative of the letdown in a fight that nobody wanted to see except for Chukhadzhian’s team, Chukhadzhian’s fans and the IBF – which made Chukhadzhian the mandatory challenger and ordered the fight.

“A lot of these elite guys, when they fight down a level, I just don’t think he switched on,” Hearn said. “He doesn’t have the fear factor. Not excited about the fight. It’s not an excuse. You always must get yourself up for the fight. But you’ll see a much better Boots Ennis against elite opposition.”

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.