Karen Chukhadzian’s P2M Box Promotions won the purse for a fight with IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis in November, topping Matchroom promoter Eddie Hearn’s $250,000.
This is bad news for Boot Ennis, and his career hopes at 147, indicating that his time in this weight class may be over.
In retrospect, Hearn should have paid WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman just the $2.2 million he asked for to fight Boot. The fact that he took a Scrooge McDuck approach to negotiations was Hearn’s fault, leaving Ennis in a sorry state.
Social Media Backlash Against Hearn
People on social media say that Ennis’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, has not been successful and has focused more on other players in his Matchroom stable, such as Shakur Stevenson and Anthony Joshua.
This means Boot Ennis will not defend his IBF title in his hometown of Philadelphia in front of 21,000 at the Wells Fargo Center, as Hearn discussed. Unless Karen wants to fight in Philadelphia, Boots will be looking to go to Europe to defend the IBF belt if she doesn’t leave.
Jake Donovan reports that Hearn lost the bid to Karen’s promoters. This puts undefeated ‘Boots’ Ennis in a tough spot: He may need to travel overseas to Europe to defend his IBF 147-lb title in Germany.
If Ennis (32-0, 29 KOs) vacates his IBF title, that would explain Hearn’s reluctance to pay $500K to fight WBO champion Brian Norman Jr. and winning a defense fund from Chukhadzian. (24-2, 13 KOs).
Hearn’s Decisions Leave Ennis Up the Creek
If Hearn has already decided that Boots should vacate his welterweight title and move up to 154, his failure to negotiate an easily negotiable fight with Brian Norman is now understandable. Fans on social media feel that Hearn does not want to invest in Boot’s future and is not willing to lose money on his fights.
If Boots vacates his IBF title, he could move up to 154 and could fight former WBA junior middleweight champion Israel Madrimov on one of Turki Alalshikh’s Riyadh Season cards. That would make things easier for Hearn, who wouldn’t have to come up with the payday.
Assuming Boot Ennis, 27, chooses to retain his IBF title and travel to Europe to defend Chukhadzian, fans will criticize Hearn for blowing up talks with Norman and then making a second mistake by failing to earn the tournament purse. to fight Karen in Philadelphia.
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