Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) promised to put on a definitive performance that included a knockout of Karen Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs) in tonight’s rematch, but that’s not at all the way things played out. Unlike the first meeting between the two, where Chukhadzhian fought a negative, keep-away style, Chukhadzhian came to fight and win tonight, which made for a very different kind of matchup.
From the opening bell Chukhadzhian was standing his ground much more, and throwing more punches, and with Boots fighting in a bit of an arrogant stance in front of his hometown fans, he took a lot of clean punches from Chukhadzhian even if he never appeared to be in any real trouble. That said, Boots certainly landed plenty of his own punches and had Chukhadzhian reeling at several points in the fight, and even forced Chukhadzhian to take a knee in the fifth round during a Boots onslaught.
Unfortunately Boots was never truly able to find the keys to a stoppage and showed signs of frustration as Chukhadzhian did everything in his power to make it to the end and survive scary moments, which included a periods of a lot of holding which would cost him a point deduction in the 10th.
In the end Boots would end up taking a unanimous decision on scores of 119-107, 117-109, 116-110 and didn’t seem too thrilled with his performance in the post-fight interview, where he indicated that it may be time for him to move up to 154 lbs where he thinks he could perform better. Boots would also indicate that he’ll perform better if and when he’s in against better competition where he won’t be able to afford making mistakes, eating punches while trying to put on a show for the crowd.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez TKO-3 Pedro Guevara
Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) make quick work of Pedro Guevara (42-5-1, 22 KOs) in tonight’s co-main event, stopping the challenger in three rounds. Bam started off aggressively, applying a lot of pressure to Guevara as he worked the body which was enough for him to win the opening rounds. By the third round Guevara was retreating consistently and got dropped by Bam on a clean left hand in the corner. Guevara would get up but would get blitzed right away by an uppercut that put Guevara right back down with the fight being waved off before the count could be completed at the 2:47 minute mark.
In the post-fight interview Bam said he’s looking to stay around the division in order to make a unification fight, otherwise potentially stage a showdown with Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez.
Raymond Ford UD-10 Orlando Gonzalez (23-2, 13 KO)
Raymond Ford (16-1-1, 8 KOs) clearly outclassed Orlando Gonzalez (23-3, 13 KOs), blitzing him with a lead right hook that floored him in the second round and from that point on Gonzalez was content to just try to survive. The remaining rounds mostly consisted of Ford showcasing his speed that Gonzalez had difficulty matching, while Gonzalez would ran many laps around the ring.
Ford would once again catch Gonzalez with another lead right hook in the eight round that would floor him for a second time, but Gonzalez would make it out of that round and run out the clock for the remainder of the fight. After 10 full rounds the judges turned in a unanimous decision for Ford on scores of 99-89, 100-88, and 100-88.
Manuel Gallegos TKO-9 Khalil Coe
Big upset for Matchroom’s prized light heavyweight prospect in Khalil Coe (9-1, 7 KOs). Manuel Gallegos (21-2-1-, 18 KOs) really didn’t care anything about the hype surrounding Coe, and fought like that, showing Coe little respect from the opening bell. To start the fight Coe was lining up and landing some clean hard shots on an aggressive Gallegos, but it became evident early that Gallegos could eat Coe’s punches and that only emboldened him to pour on the pressure.
By the fifth round Gallegos had already started to wear down Coe by attrition, and would score knockdowns against Coe on four of the next five rounds, with Coe clearly having nothing left in the ninth, getting dropped on the first punch of the round. Huge win for Gallegos here, who will have good options moving forward as Coe will need to rebuild from the beating he took tonight.
Austin Williams TKO-5 Gian Garrido
Austin ‘Ammo’ Williams (17-1, 12 KOs) scored his get-well stoppage tonight against Gian Garrido (11-2, 8 KOs), forcing a TKO stoppage in the fifth round as he dazed his opponent and launched an unimpeded assault that essentially had Garrido out on his feet along the ropes, with the referee forced to step in to call it quits at the 1:04 mark.