Chukhadzhian's Next Opponent Might Not Be Ennis

The trainer of Ukrainian IBF welterweight title contender (up to 66.7 kg) and Ready To Fight ambassador Karen Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs), Vyacheslav Senchenko, shared insights on what might be next for his athlete. It might not necessarily be a fight against IBF champion, American Jaron Ennis (31-0, 28 KOs).

– It's very difficult to say when the fight will happen. Right now, Jaron Ennis will face Canadian Cody Crowley in July. This will be his mandatory defense.

For us, the best option would be to have a fight with him at the end of the year. But we’ll see, it’s not that simple.

– Why?

– Many boxers wait for their chance at a title fight, being mandatory contenders, for a year or two, depending on their luck. So we’ll have to see.

– Have you thought about what to do if the mandatory fight with Ennis gets delayed?

– It’s possible they’ll come up with a temporary fight for Karen, so he doesn’t go straight to Ennis. The American is working with Eddie Hearn's Matchroom, and they might propose something to avoid putting Jaron against Karen right now. They also need lucrative fights with big names.

– What are the possibilities?

– They might organize a fight between Ennis and Conor Benn for the championship, while giving Karen time to fight for an interim title. This happened with Ennis before: when Terence Crawford was the champion, Chukhadzhian fought Jaron for the interim title. There’s a chance they might set up a similar interim fight this time.

We don’t have any exact dates or agreements yet. We had a fight, Ennis has a fight lined up for the summer, and then our teams will talk and negotiate.

– Karen has already fought Ennis, and the memories aren’t the most pleasant.

– Not the most pleasant? Considering the result – yes, the fight was tough. I can’t say it was a bad fight. But we went 12 rounds against a top boxer who had never gone the distance before, he had all knockouts. Of course, we learned a lot from it,» said Senchenko.

After his decision win over Harry Scarff, Karen became the mandatory contender for Jaron’s title. Ennis and Chukhadzhian have already fought once – in January 2023, the American won by decision.