Jaron "Boots" Ennis to face Karen Chukhadzhian in Garcia-Davis PPV co-main on 1/7

Jaron Ennis has a dance partner for his first bout of 2023.

FightNights.com has learned that the unbeaten welterweight title contender will face Ukraine’s Karen Chukhadzhian for the IBF interim 147-pound championship on January 7 at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C. Their 12-round fight will serve as the chief support of a Showtime Pay-Per-View telecast headlined by Gervonta Davis vs. Hector Luis Garcia.

Ennis-Chukhadzhian contest is expected to be officially announced Monday in Washington as part of a press conference to promote the Davis-Garcia PPV event.

Ennis (29-0, 27 KOs), the IBF No.1-ranked contender, knocked out Custio Clayton in the second round of their May 14 bout in Carson, California. The fight, which lasted roughly four minutes, was the first and only fight for Ennis in 2022. Chukhadzhian (21-1, 11 KOs), ranked fourth by the IBF, has won 20 bouts in a row, but has not fought anyone with Ennis' talent. He fought twice in 2022, scoring a pair of stoppages over Ryan Martin (TKO 8) and Blake Minto (TKO 6).

The winner of Ennis-Chukhadzhian will claim the recently resurrected IBF interim 147-pound title. A win for Ennis would give 'Boots' leverage in his pursuit of a showdown against three-belt unbeaten unified world champion Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KOs).

Spence, 32, is expected to face longtime rival Keith Thurman next. Clearwater, Florida's Thurman (30-1, 22 KOs), a former unified (WBA, WBC) champion, was named the WBC’s mandatory challenger for Spence at its annual convention last month in Acapulco, Mexico.