Jaron Ennis Ordered To Fight Mandatory Karen Chukhadzhian, Eddie Hearn Not Pleased
Eddie Hearn, the promoter of Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, has revealed the IBF has ordered its welterweight champion to fight mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian, which has not gone down well with the Matchroom Boxing boss.
Ennis (32-0-0 29 KO) made the first defense of his IBF world title last month when he stopped the experienced David Avanesyan in the fifth round in Philadelphia.
‘Boots’ had been promoted from interim to full champion following Terence Crawford’s decision to leave the 147lbs division, and after ending 12 months of inactivity, Hearn’s plan for his star American fighter is to make up for lost time.
That primarily includes unification fights against Ennis’ fellow welterweight champions as Hearn aims to elevate Boots’ profile to the superstar status his talent deserves.
However, the order from the IBF risks slowing down the momentum generated from the buzz of Ennis’ return against Avanesyan – particularly as the mandatory fight is against an opponent Ennis has already defeated convincingly. Boots cruised past Chukhadzhian in January 2023 to claim the IBF’s interim title, winning all 12 rounds on the three scorecards.
“I’m not over the moon about it,” Hearn said. “We want to make the biggest fights out there … unification fights.”
The IBF has proved itself to be the strictest of the four major sanctioning bodies when it comes to enforcing mandatory bouts. It was the first body to strip Crawford of his welterweight title during the Nebraskan’s spell of inactivity, doing so in November, while the WBO and WBC only followed suit when it became clear ‘Bud’ was remaining at super-welterweight. The WBA is yet to elevate interim belt holder Eimantas Stanionis to full champion but is expected to do so soon.
The IBF also acted swiftly to remove its title from Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez when he opted for Edgar Berlanga as his September 14 opponent instead of IBF mandatory William Scull. It would have also stripped heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk for agreeing a rematch with Tyson Fury over facing IBF challenger Daniel Dubois but the Ukrainian vacated before the body could act.
If the IBF took such an uncompromising stance with three great undisputed champions in Canelo, Crawford, and Usyk, then Ennis will not be afforded much flexibility if he wants to remain a world champion.
One avenue Ennis and Hearn could take would be to vacate the IBF title and pursue a fight with one of the other three champions, hoping that a big payday could tempt them into a bout.
However, considering all three other title holders are yet to make a defense following their respective elevations from interim, it’s unlikely any would be interested in risking a fight with Ennis unless it’s for a unification.
Brian Norman Jr, who this week was officially promoted by the WBO to full champion status, has already stated his desire to jump straight into unification bouts, which could create an opportunity to fight Ennis. However, the American has his own mandatory challenger in Shakhram Giyasov to consider.
The WBC’s Mario Barrios and WBA champion Stanionis represent the other unification options for Ennis, although with the pair both represented by rival promoter PBC, it makes swift negotiations complicated.
It leaves Ennis in a difficult position of being forced into a mandatory fight that fans have little appetite for or risk losing a world title he will want to retain for leverage in his pursuit of becoming undisputed champion.
