Jaron Ennis vs Karen Chukhadzhian 2

 

Rematches are always tough to predict since the two combatants by now are familiar with one another. They know how each other's punches feel. They know how the other fighter moves like. They know a lot more about each other than we would like to think. 

 

Karen Chukhadzhian (24-2) is an unpolished fighter with good footwork but lacks offensive power. He moves his feet, but he's always in a defensive mode. This is usually trouble against a fighter who has mastered timing. Jaron Ennis, the undefeated American, is indeed someone who can time him. Throughout the first fight, Jaron followed him around the ring, picking him apart while landing effective punches to force him to the ropes.

 

By the second round, Karen seemed to be uncertain on what to do offensively. Hence, the narrative of the fight never changed. On the fourth round, he managed to land a great left hook on Jaron, which forced him to eat a counter right from his opponent. That's how Jaron is: if you hit him, expect to get hit back.

 

The action heated up on the fifth round, in which Karen landed a couple of punches early in the round. Again, he backtracked and kept a defensive mode, losing an opportunity to change the rhythm of the fight. Keeping an active movement is harder than it looks because not only is your opponent landing a few punches, but it is easy to lose track of what you are trying to do. He moved a lot, but he was very predictable, enabling Jaron to follow him around comfortably. Round eight looks exactly like rounds two or three. Nothing had changed. Jaron just used his jab to pace the fight and corner him to the ropes. He found himself once again having to move sideways to get out of the way. He moved and threw his left and right hooks, but none of that landed well on Jaron, who practically bullied him in the night.

 

Karen does have great heart and footwork, but his lack of offensive prowess is his greatest weakness. He's too defensive with no poof to discourage Jaron from attacking. By round ten, Jaron was able to punish his body, making him even more tired. By then, Jaron practically memorized how he would move in certain situations. When he moved to his left, Jaron knew his body would be open, so more and more body punches on his right side landed against him. Jab, jab, body shot, right hook was able to land more frequently.

 

From the first fight, we learned that Jaron is just the more skilled, more accurate, and more disciplined fighter. He showed why he is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters today. We also learned that Karen has great endurance and good footwork, but just not good enough to really detract Jaron from picking him apart. For the lack of a better word, Karen got taught a boxing lesson, a reminder as to how much greater of a fighter Jaron is.

 

The rematch could end up the same way as the first fight, but knowing Jaron, one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world today, he will find a better way to impress. Expect Jaron to go for the knockout, and if Karen does not move as well as he did in the first fight, it could be a quick night.

 

Jaron by either mid-round K.O. or unanimous decision. He puts his IBF World Welterweight Championship on the line on November 9th 2024.