Jaron “Boots” Ennis defeats Chukhadzhian to retain IBF welterweight title | Boxing

Jaron Ennis defended his share of the 147-pound championship with a poor performance in front of his hometown crowd, earning a unanimous decision victory over Ukrainian fighter Karen Chukhadzhian on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

Ennis, known as “Boots,” won 119-107, 117-109, 116-110 on the scorecards to retain the IBF Welterweight Championship.

The 27-year-old Ennis, a native of Northwest Philadelphia, fought for the second time this year at the Philadelphia Arena, home of the 76ers and Flyers.

Ennis (33-0) came close to victory in the fifth round after a series of body shots dropped Chukhadzhian to his right knee in the corner and rose from the Philly crowd.

Ennis’ corner barked at the fighter to shout Chukhadzhian “out of here already!” deep in battle. Ennis was touted as one of the rising stars in a sport that desperately needs one in America.

He hasn’t lost his hometown audience. Ennis certainly couldn’t convince many other fans – especially first-time viewers watching the card on Dazn – as a stoppage was never seriously within reach, even though the big KO seemed to be his only goal.

It was a rematch of their January 2023 fight, which Ennis won by unanimous decision. Ennis defended the welterweight title later that year against Roiman Villa in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and defeated David Avanesyan on his homecoming in Philly this year.

The biggest downside for Ennis is his lack of defense.

In fact, Ennis stumbled in the first round after being hit with a big left hand, although he never left his feet. Chukhadzhian (24-3) was more assertive in the rematch – and that had to be the case after a resounding performance in the first fight. He landed his share of body shots, but not enough to do any serious damage or get enough shots on the scorecards.

Ennis headlined a card in July that drew a surprising 14,119 fans to the Wells Fargo Center.

The crowd didn’t quite reach the July attendance limit on Saturday evening, due in large part to a second leg against lackluster opponents. Still, about 10,000 fans stood firmly behind Boots, all raising their smartphones as the ring announcer implored them to “Show your light for Boots!”

Ennis wore metal shoulder spikes and purple and white trunks as he was escorted to the ring accompanied by rapper G Herbo.

Ennis has been vocal about wanting to fight Errol Spence Jr. or Terence Crawford. He would also like a chance at Canelo Alvarez. Ennis also hasn’t ruled out moving up in weight class to 154 pounds.

Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez successfully defended his share of the super flyweight title with a third-round TKO victory over Pedro Guevara. The 24-year-old Rodriguez from San Antonio knocked Guevara down twice in the third round, the second time throwing the challenger onto his back and that was enough for the referee to stop the fight.

Rodriguez (21-0) used a right uppercut to floor Guevara (44-5-1) in the third round and remains atop the 115-pound division.

“I’m pretty happy, but I kind of knew it was going to happen,” he said. “I really thought he was going to stand there and fight some more.”