Jaron Ennis potential next opponents have not been received well
ESPN boxing journalist Dan Rafael slams the IBF for calling a final eliminator between Briton Harry Scarff and Karen Chuckhadzhian for Jaron Ennis’ world welterweight title.
Wasserman Boxing, winning the purse bid at yesterday’s hearing, will stage the bout, with it likely to be broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK.
Ennis – previously holding the interim belt – was gifted full-champion status when Terence Crawford was stripped of the title just a few months after becoming undisputed at 147 lbs, decisively beating Errol Spence Jr for all the marbles.
On X, Rafael said: “IBF purse bid scheduled for Thursday for a welterweight eliminator for No. 1 between Karen Chuckhadzhian vs. Harry Scarff. If the fight happens, the winner will be mandatory for Jaron Ennis, which is just sick on every level.”
Scarff (13-2, 3 KOs) dethroned Ekow Essuman for the British and Commonwealth trinkets in November last year, when he boxed his way to a 12-round unanimous decision win, collecting the IBF European in the process.
While, in the division above, he became the English champion by beating Jack Flatley back on 2019, Scarff previously fell short the two times he stepped up to British level, losing on points to Anthony Fowler and Troy Williamson in the bouts that followed.
However, down at welterweight, he seems to have found his groove, with his win over Essuman seen by most as a considerable upset.
However, his next opponent is a relative enigma as, with a record of 23-2, 13 KOs, Chukhadzhian is still unproven at the top level.
The 27-year-old IBF Inter-Continental welterweight champion has already fought for the IBF belt, though, as he fell short to Ennis in January last year, losing every round across 12.
With two stoppage wins since, the Ukrainian will hope to have another crack of the whip, while Scarff looks to step up a level above what most could have envisaged him ever reaching.