The IBF has ordered Jaron 'Boots' Ennis to defend his welterweight title against Karen Chukhadzhian in a mandatory rematch. Boots promoter Eddie Hearn broke the news today, and he's disappointed.
IBF Approves Replays
In an interview with Boxing News, Hearn revealed that the IBF has ordered Boots (32-0, 29 KOs) to defend against Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs), the boxer Ennis lost last year by a twelve-round unanimous decision in January. 7, 2023, Washington, DC. The scores were 120-108, 120-108 and 120-108.
Although Boots beat Chukhadzhian by many goals, he could not cut the ring from him and often missed his attempts to shoot the Ukrainian fighter. The boots were made to look bad in that fight and were heavily criticized afterward by fans, fighters, and the media. Ennis didn't try to throw a body shot, and his coach, Derek 'Bozy' Ennis, seemed lost in his corner.
A second fight would be a bad move for Ennis if it's his only option. The fans don't want to see it, there are many chances that Chukhadzhian will show mistakes in his game like he did last time.
Doubts of Other Champions
Hearn hopes he can set up a unification fight to block the IBF title, but he's not sure it will happen. He says he made an offer to the WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios fight with the Brothers. If he agrees, it may be the following.
The other three champions at 147 are likely to clash with Boot Ennis because they know it's a fight they will lose. They are better off sticking to their topics and picking and choosing the battles they can win.
Unless Hearn is going to pay the welterweight champions crazy money to fight Boot, it's not going to happen. It's not fair for the belt holders to give up their titles to Ennis in fights they know they can't win.
Ennis still wants to collect all four titles to go unchallenged at 147, but if Hearn can't get all the champions to agree to fight him, he'll have to move up. The boots should just go up to 154.
He won't become a welterweight because he's not famous. Other champions won't fight him because it's not financially important for them to hand over their belts to him for a big life-changing payday.
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