By: Sean Crose
“Keep going,” the man said to a gym full of bright young students. “Stay locked in.” The man then added another, pointed piece of advice. “Be the first one in the gym,” he added. “Be the last one out of the gym.” Sound guidance, but not surprising since it was coming from one Jaron “Boots” Ennis, welterweight world titlist and one of the most impressive fighters in the current boxing scene. The 27 year old, who will be defending his IBF world welterweight title this Saturday night in his native Philadelphia against Karen Chukhadzhian, is 32-0 with a remarkable 27 knockouts on his resume.
Still, he’s yet to have a major fight. That, however, doesn’t appear to be his fault. Indeed, Ennis has been trying to face an opponent who – on paper, at least – has a real chance of defeating him. Such opponents, however, are hard to come by. A hoped for fight with the great Terence Crawford has gone nowhere, something Ennis himself has been open about. “I feel like I’m the best person for Crawford and we tried to get the fight multiple times,” Ennis told TMZ. “He’s looking for Canelo.” Not that anyone can blame Crawford for wanting to engage in what would likely be a mega event.
Still, that leaves Ennis, for the moment at least, without a major dance partner. Which means he’ll be facing Chukhadzhian this weekend, who he already fought and defeated back in January. This time, Ennis hopes to win by knockout, unlike the last time out against Chukhadzhian, where he had to settle for a judges’ decision. “This time I’ve been doing a lot of studying,” Ennis told TMZ. “This time around I’m going to stick to the game plan.” And if he wins as expected? “Right now my main focus is to be undisputed at 147.” No small goal, even for a fighter as talented as Ennis is.
For now, though, Ennis must take Chukhadzhian seriously. The man is, after all, his mandatory opponent. “They fell through,” Ennis said of discussions for facing other welterweight titlists, “so I had to fight my mandatory.” Not that he minds all that much. “I feel like definitely I’m going to knock him out,” he said of Chukhadzhian on IFLTV. “I’m going to put on a show.” Fighting in his native Philadelphia is indeed a plus for the Philly fighter. As is the man’s confidence. When asked if he would be more of a challenge to Crawford than Canelo would be, Ennis pulled no punches.
“Most definitely,” he said.