Jaron “Boots” Ennis And His Pointless “Must Win”

Has there ever been such a pointless fight carrying such a “must win” dynamic?

This Saturday, Jaron “Boots” Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) walks into the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, as a -3500 betting favorite, making a mandatory defense of his IBF welterweight title against mega-underdog Karen Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs).

The meeting is a rematch of a January, 2023 bout that saw Ennis win every minute of every round and sweep all three judges’ scorecards.

For those wondering why a hopeless underdog, completely shut out by a defending titlist last year is the mandatory challenger for that same champion this year, well, that’s a bit of a complex boxing question.

However, to make a long story short, it’s happening because Chukhadzhian fought his way to mandatory challenger status, per IBF rules, and the IBF has been committing the controversial act of actually following their own rules and regulation.

But, regardless of how we got here, we’re here. Boots vs. Karen is happening and it’s beyond important for Ennis to not only win this fight, but to do so impressively. The last time around, the Philadelphia native’s scorecard-dominant performance was beyond dull and so “off” against the mobile and awkward native of the Ukraine that his rising star was temporarily grounded. The flat showing had people wondering aloud whether he really was as good as hyped.

This poor styles matchup was why Ennis’ promoter Eddie Hearn was so opposed to this mandatory defense and worked so hard to try and force a title unification bout with WBO welterweight champ Brian Norman Jr. into existence. But the UK-based bossman of Matchroom Boxing did not succeed in getting a better fight for his guy, so now the ball is in Boots’ court to make the best of a bad situation.

“I’m going to put on a beautiful show by beating him up, breaking him down, having my fun, and getting my knockout at the end of the night,” Ennis told Boxingscene.

“It’s going to be fireworks. I saw a lot of things that I am going to apply in this fight to show that I am that guy and show the world why I am the best.”

As for how he’ll be better and more dynamic this second time around?

“He doesn’t do anything that concerns me. It was more about myself on fight night when I fought him. I didn’t do what I was supposed to do. It was never him. It was me not doing what I was supposed to be doing and just looking for the knockout…As long as I have my fun, everything will fall into place. The knockout comes when you don’t look for it.

“I’m not looking past him, but after I do my thing and win in spectacular fashion, I want the rest of the welterweight belts, and to stay busy.”

And that’s why this tussle with the Karen from the Ukraine is a “must win.”

Ennis and Hearn haven’t had much success in drawing the attention of any high-end opposition. A loss (or a poor performance) would just give everyone else at 147 or 154 greater justification to ignore his presence. A showing like his January 23 effort versus Chukhadzhian would set his career back immensely.

Brushed aside by Terence Crawford and strategically overlooked by the three other welterweight titlists, Ennis must now pave his own path to stardom, walking over a second straight set of champions who’d prefer not to acknowledge his existence.

The 27-year-old faces the tough boxing task of becoming a star without a piggyback to stardom. Hearn hopes that showcasing his fighter at home, in front of raucous partisan crowds, will help jump start his start power and make the reward of fighting him worth the risk of facing him. It’s, really, the only play that can be called at the moment.

But, first, Ennis has to deliver on Saturday. He has to win and he has to entertain or he’ll be taking one full step backwards in his march towards stardom.