Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez will be under the spotlight tonight, hoping to shine in their respective fights at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) defends his IBF welterweight title in a rematch against his mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs) in the headliner.
(Credit: Amanda Westcott/Matchroom Boxing)
Tonight’s event will be shown live on DAZN at 7:00 pm ET. Live updates and results will be shown below.
The 27-year-old Boots has a history with Chukhadzhian, having beaten him by a 12-round unanimous decision last year on January 7th in Washington, D.C. Chukhadzhian, 28, worked his way back to mandatory position with three straight wins over nondescript opposition, defeating these fighters: Harry Scarff, Michael Marcano, and Pietro Rossetti.
At 7:00 pm ET on DAZN – Main Card
- Jaron “Boots” Ennis (32-0, 29 KO) vs. Karen Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KO). In the headliner, Ennis defends against Chukhadzhian in a fight that has failed to ignite fans’ passion. After the problems Chukhadzhian gave Boots last year in their first fight, Ennis needs to score a knockout to show people that he’s better than what he showed last time.
- Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KO) vs Pedro Guevara (42-4-1, 22 KO): The unbeaten WBC super flyweight champion ‘Bam’ Rodriguez defends against Guevara in the chief support bout. It may come down to Bam to save tonight’s card if Ennis fails to live up to the billing in the main event.
- Raymond Ford (15-1-1, 8 KO) vs Orlando Gonzalez (23-2, 13 KO). The former WBA featherweight champion Ford, 25, will be fighting for the first time since losing his title to Nick Ball by a 12-round split decision on June 1st. Ford is facing the 29-year-old Gonzalez, who has won his last five fights.
- Khalil Coe (9-0-1, 7 KO) vs Manuel Gallegos (20-2-1, 17 KO). Light heavyweight Coe, 28, will be looking for another knockout in another building fight for him against Gallegos.
- Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams (16-1, 11 KO) vs Gian Garrido (11-1, 8 KO). Middleweight Williams, 28, looks to bounce back from suffering an 11th-round knockout to Hamzah Sheeraz on June 1st in Riyadh. This fight is a confidence-booster match for Williams against the 26-year-old Garrido, who was recently knocked out last year in the second round.
Fans question the IBF’s decision to install Chukhzadzhian as the mandatory at 147 for Boots after wins over these three obscure fighters, none of which are known by fans. Normally, contenders are expected to face highly ranked fighters to earn a mandatory position. In Chukhadzhian’s case, that didn’t happen.
WBC super flyweight champion ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (20-0, 13 KOs) defends against interim champ Guevara (42-4-1, 22 KOs) in the chief support bout on tonight’s card. Bam, 24, has gained a lot of notoriety in the last two years by beating older former world champions, with wins over Juan Francisco Estrada, Carlos Cuastras, and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
Guevara, 35, has won his last two fights after losing to Cuadras by a 12-round unanimous decision last year on November 17th. In Guevara’s last two fights, he’s beaten Andrew Moloney and Lamberto Macias to put himself in position for tonight’s fight.
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