Jaron Ennis vs Karen Chukhadzhian Predictions: ‘Boots’ must up his game in rematch

Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis defends his IBF welterweight title this Saturday, November 9 against Karen Chukhadzhian. The 147lb bout headlines the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, on a bumper Matchroom card also featuring outings for Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez and Raymond Ford. DAZN will screen the action live.

Here are my Ennis vs Chukhadzhian predictions ahead of this world championship clash.

This bout is a rematch from their January 2023 clash. Ennis won the IBF interim title on that occasion before later being upgraded to full championship status. While he won comfortably on the cards, ‘Boots’ came in for a lot of criticism for his lacklustre display. 

Ennis missed a lot of shots and was routinely countered by Chukhadzhian. ‘Boots’ deserved his points win, but the unbeaten star was criticised for a lack of ruthlessness. It is not usually an accusation aimed at the 27-year-old. 29 knockouts in 32 wins is not the record of a man who lacks ferocity.

Despite Ennis’ poor display, there was not enough in the first fight to warrant a rematch. It was not close on the cards, with all three judges awarding ‘Boots’ every round. The issue with being an overwhelming favourite is that anything less than a highlight-reel knockout plays like a bad night. But even allowing for the underperformance, this is not a rematch made on merit.

Instead, Matchroom have put this together under orders from the IBF. In their infinite wisdom, the sanctioning body have made this a mandatory fight, despite the fact Ennis has already comprehensively beaten Chukhadzhian once. 

To Chukhadzhian’s credit, he has kept up his end of the bargain. The Kiev fighter has won all three outings since the Ennis defeat, including outscoring Britain’s Harry Scarff in May. Chukhadzhian is a solid welterweight contender and a tough night for any champion, but it would have been preferable to see him mix it up with a titleholder that didn’t shut him out last year.

It perhaps speaks to a dearth of quality in a division that once carried the flag for an entire sport. We are far away from the days when Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley and Zab Judah put on banner nights at 147lb. More recently, Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. contested a big money fight for the undisputed title before each moving up to 154lb. 

That division, and a fight with Crawford specifically, is one of Ennis’ possible futures. ‘Bud’ holds the WBO interim and WBA titles up at super welterweight and a fight with ‘Boots’ would make big money. Bigger than Ennis can make against anyone at welterweight, including his fellow champions. Brian Norman Jr., Eimantas Stanionis and Mario Barrios just don’t carry the same box office appeal.

Ennis can only put himself in blockbuster fights with a more-impressive win here, however. Knockouts over Roiman Villa and David Avanesyan in his two fights since Chukhadzhian have shown some sizzle. But the nature of the opponents has seen these victories go under the radar. A big performance is needed in this one to unlock future glory nights for ‘Boots’.

Jaron Ennis vs Karen Chukhadzhian Fight Odds

‘Boots’ is a whopping 1/33 to win here, the sort of price that reflects his first-fight dominance. Chukhadzhian is 10/1 to pull off an upset he never looked capable of in their initial meeting. A draw is priced at 20/1. 

Jaron Ennis vs Karen Chukhadzhian Full Card

Jaron Ennis © vs. Karen Chukhadzhian - IBF welterweight title 

Jesse Rodriguez © vs. Pedro Guevara - WBC super flyweight title 

Raymond Ford vs. Orlando Gonzalez

Khaili Coe vs. Manuel Gallegos

Ernesto Mercado vs. Jesus Saracho

Austin Williams vs. Gian Garrido

Ismail Muhammad vs. Danny Murray

Zaquin Moses vs. TBA

Dennis Thompson vs. Roberto Cantu

Jaron Ennis vs Karen Chukhadzhian Prediction

Ennis will be on the hunt for a knockout here. Chukhadzhian was simply too evasive and switched-on last time. But still, there was a feeling ‘Boots’ didn’t have his timing and range down while throwing punches.

Ennis has looked better since, securing back-to-back knockouts. I think he will do it again here. But Chukhadzhian is wily and hard to pin down. This is why I’m going for Ennis to win in rounds 10-12 at 5/1. I think ‘Boots’ will get there, but it’ll take a while.

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