Eddie Hearn says IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis must either fight a unification against one of the other three champions at 147 or move up to 154 to challenge Vergil Ortiz Jr. for his WBC interim title after Ennis’ win over Karen Chukhadzhian last Saturday night in Philadelphia.
(Credit: Amanda Westcott Matchroom Boxing)
Ennis can make a lot of money from Vergil Jr. (22-0, 21 KOs) to fight in one of the Riyadh season events and put himself in position to get very good fights in the 154-lb division. If Ennis stays at welterweight, he may never get any of the champions to fight him. The negative about Boots going to 154 is that he could lose to Vergil, and that would hurt his popularity more than tonight’s fight against Chukhadzhian.
Boots has a big decision to make
Hearn states that Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) has a “big decision to make” about what direction he wants to take with his career. He feels that Ennis’ performance against Chudhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs), which many fans felt was far below his standards, was not a good one for him at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
The 10,000+ fans who showed up to watch Ennis weren’t thrilled with what they saw, as they were quiet for most of the 12-round fight. They had nothing to cheer about as Chukhadzhian outboxed Ennis for almost the entire fight.
The best moments in the fight for Ennis were his fifth round knockout and the points deduction taken from Chukhadzhian for holding in round ten. Ennis won with the scores 119-107, 117-111 and 116-111.
Chukhadzhian landed the cleaner shots and looked amazing with the technical skills he showed. No one in the welterweight division has the talent that Chukhadzhian showed tonight. He’s on a different level from anybody at 147 or 140.
“Now we have a big decision to make. I never liked to give up world titles, but sometimes the time is right,” said Eddie Hearn during the post-fight press conference after Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’ win over Karen Chukhadzhian on Saturday night.
It’s an easy decision for Boots if he’s going to be offered a massive payday by His Excellency Turki Alalshikh to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr. to fight in Riyadh. That’s a much better option than staying at welterweight and potentially not getting the unification fights he wants.
Ennis can increase his popularity
“We might get a substantial offer to fight Vergil Ortiz in Saudi Arabia, and then from there it’s up to Jaron and Bozy. They will get my advice, but it’s the guys who will make the decision. For me, it’s either unification or Ortiz,” Hearn said.
“The reason we fought Chukhadzhian tonight is because Boots had a desire to fight the other championships at 147. We need to review that position. We have to look at the option for Vergil Ortiz. We have to look at the financial package for that. Don’t forget. A win over Vergil Ortz on a Riyadh season card will take his profile to another level. So, it’s going to be very tempting.
“It’s a brilliant fight. Boots vs. Vergil Ortiz is one of the best fights that can be made, not only in the division, but in boxing. Two tremendous young fighters,” Hearn said.
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5 vs 5 golden boy match room
Main event @VergilOrtiz vs Boots Ennis— Oscar De La Hoya (@OscarDeLaHoya) November 10, 2024
