IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ trainer/father Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis hopes that challenger Karen Chukhadzhian doesn’t run like he did in their previous fight on January 7 last year.
Chukhadzhian confused Boots for 12 rounds a year ago, making him look bad in their match in Washington, D.C. Ennis won but looked one-dimensional and unable to adapt to a fighter with a smart style not.
Ennis could have moved up
Papa Ennis is displeased that Boots fought Chukhadzhian again. He has no other choice because the International Boxing Federation orders the fight a mandatory defense. It could have been easily resolved if Ennis had been braver.
Boots could have vacated and moved up to challenge the IBF 154-lb champion Bakhram Murtazaliev for his belt. It would have been an obvious move for Ennis, but Murtazaliev is a devastating puncher and can knock Boots out. The Philadelphia native wants no part of moving up to 154 to face killers like Murtazaliev, Terence Crawford, Israil Madrimov, Vergil Ortiz Jr., and Serhii Bohachuk.
There will be much more fan interest in a Boots vs. Murtazaliev fight than there would be for Ennis to take on Chukhadzhian or any of the champions at 147. putting his skin on the line against someone with a real chance of beating him.
Bozy isn’t sure if Boots (32-0, 29 KOs) can knock out Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs) if he moves and holds all night. While he is confident that Ennis can cut the ring off the 28-year-old Chukhadzhian, he can still survive by holding on to stop Boots getting his shots off.
Boots vs. Chukhadzhian will appear in their rematch at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia this Saturday, November 9th. The event will be shown live on DAZN. In the co-main event, WBC super flyweight champion Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez defends against Pedro Guevara. That fight has a good chance to steal that show from Boots if he can’t reinvent Chukhadzhian’s style.
Boots’ stock may fall
“I feel we don’t have to fight him again. So, I guess he found his way back to the top. He is the mandatory, and that is the only reason why we take it. Other than that, we wouldn’t take it,” said Derek ‘Bozy’ Ennis YSM Sports Media about his unhappiness over Boots Ennis having to fight Karen Chukhadzhian again.
Ennis has no choice but to abide by the IBF’s rules to fight his mandatory Chukhadzhian if he wants to retain his title with their organization. Again, this is a problem that could easily be solved if Ennis vacates and moves up to challenge IBF junior middleweight champion Murtazaliev. He may be the underdog in that fight, and it’s a very different situation for the young fighter.
“The one you usually see, but this time it’s all business. He’s not going to run after him,” Bozy said when asked what type of Boots Ennis fans will see in his rematch with Chukhadzhian on Saturday night. “He’s going to cut the ring off him.
“But if you cut someone’s ring off, but if they’re trained to survive, it’s still going to be hard to find them. Once you cut the ring off, he’s going to grab you and tie you up anyway. So, you have to be smart, use a lot of fakes and do a lot of different things that you haven’t done before.
“I hope he’s a stationary target this time because he won’t be a problem for us,” Bozy said of wanting Chukhadzhian to stand his ground to be there for Boots Ennis to hit on Saturday. “If you come to fight, let’s fight. If you want to dance, we want to dance with him.”
Chukhadzhian will not stand still because he is not physically equipped for that kind of fight against Boots Ennis. If Chukhadzhian had Julian Jackson type power, he would gladly stand his ground and take Boots’s head off by the shoulders. This is not the reality of the station. So, Karen will use his technical skills to make Boots look like he’s fighting with two left feet, and his stock will drop again.
