Jaron Ennis successfully defended his IBF welterweight title for the second time, picking up a points victory over spirited Ukrainian challenger Karen Chukhadzhian in their rematch at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Saturday.
Ennis dropped Chukhadzhian in the fifth round but had to settle for a wide unanimous decision victory.
The pair had previously met in January 2023, when Ennis (32-0, KO29) won all twelve rounds on all three scorecards to claim the interim IBF title. “Boots” then knocked out Roiman Villa in ten games before becoming full champions, where he made a first defense in July, forcing the hard blow David Avanesyan is retiring after five rounds.
Chukhadzhian (24-2, KO13) earned a rematch by becoming the IBF mandatory challenger with his victory over Harry Scarff in May.
Their second meeting was a much more competitive affair and both had their successes in the opening round, with the challenger briefly damaging the home favorite's knees with a left hook.
The Ukrainian also had a good second goal, but Ennis became familiar with the task, trapping his man in the corner and firing in the third before scoring with an uppercut in the fourth.
The 27-year-old then made the breakthrough in the fifth round with an uppercut that left Chukhadzhian reeling before a follow-up attack brought the guest to his knees.
The knockdown halted the 28-year-old's momentum over the next few rounds as Ennis' moves and combinations gave him rounds, and the championship rounds started poorly for the Kiev man as he was deducted a point for excessive holding.
He continued to fight and there were signs of life in the penultimate frame, and the final round was also encouraging as he let his hands go and landed with several powerful punches.
Ultimately, the effort was in vain as Ennis retained his title with scores of 119-107, 117-109 and 116-110, with the American hinting at moving up in weight for his next outing.
Ennis' promoter Eddie Hearn announced that talks are underway for a February showdown with Vergil Ortiz Jr. that would see the Philadelphia man move up to 154 pounds and likely relinquish his belt.
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“My performance was fine,” said Ennis DAZN after the fight.
“I think it might be time to go to '54.
“I felt good, but I have a feeling that at 54 I will be much better and my father will be who he is supposed to be.
“I’m getting older now. I’m 27. I’ll be 28 next year.”
Bam beats up Guevara
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez picked up another impressive win as he defended his WBC super flyweight title for the first time in his second reign as champion, with a dominant third-round knockout of Pedro Guevara, who had never been stopped before .
Rodriguez (21-0, 14 KOs) defeated Guevara (42-5-1, 22 KOs) with a sharp left hook in the third round, and although the Mexican beat the count, a vicious right uppercut on the resumption left the challenger reeling his back and the fight was over.
Ford is back on the road to success
Ray Ford lost his WBA featherweight world title to Nick Ball last time out, but here he impressively moved up to super featherweight, dropping Orlando Gonzalez twice on his way to a landslide victory.
Ford (16-1-1, 8 KOs) knocked out Gonzalez (23-3, 13 KOs) with a right hook in the second round, and the same punch earned him another knockdown in the eighth round as he finished with two wins won scores of 100-88 and a record of 99-89.
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Coe is stunned by Gallegos
Light heavyweight contender Khalil Coe (9-1-1, 7 KOs) suffered a shocking first professional loss when he was dropped four times before being stopped in the ninth round in his clash with Manuel Gallegos (21-2-1, 18). KOs).
Remaining undercard
The only eight-rounder was at middleweight, and Austin “Ammo” Williams (17-1, 12 KOs) returned from a stoppage loss to Hamzah Sheeraz in June to stop Gian Garrido (11-2, 8 KOs) in five rounds.
Ismail Muhammad (6-0, 3 KOs) won all four rounds at welterweight against Nelson Morales (5-19, 2 KOs) and Dennis Thompson (3-0, 2 KOs) was a second-round stoppage winner in his super bantamweight bout. Contest against Edgar Ortiz Jr. (8-6-2, 4 KOs).
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According to the scorecards, debutant Zaquin Moses (1:0) won against Michael Ruiz (1:5) in the super featherweight division.
