'Boots' Ennis, 'Bam' Rodriguez score wins in star-studded doubleheader

Two young and exciting champions shared the marquee in Philadelphia and each put forth a dominant performance

Two of the most young and exciting champions in boxing shared the marquee on Saturday night in Philadelphia and each put forth a dominant performance in a star-studded doubleheader. 

Jaron "Boots" Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) defended his IBF welterweight title with a wide decision over mandatory challenger Karen Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs) in their rematch headlining a Matchroom Sport card inside Wells Fargo Center. In the co-main event, 24-year-old breakout star Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez made a spectacular defense of his WBC super flyweight title by dropping former junior flyweight titleholder Pedro Guevara twice en route to a third-round TKO.  

The 27-year-old Ennis was unable to live up to his pre-fight promise of a knockout due to the iron chin on display from Chukhadzhian, a 28-year-old native of Ukraine. Ennis still got the better of the exchanges and scored a fifth-round knockdown on his way to claiming a unanimous decision on judges' scores of 119-107, 117-109 and 116-110.