The frustration of Jaron Ennis reached its crescendo as his search to take on one of the welterweight division’s elite yielded zero results.

While acrimonious, the 25-year-old begrudgingly accepted a showdown against the unheralded Karen Chukhadzhian. Officially, the two locked horns just a few short days ago on January 7th, at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.

Prior to making his way to the ring, the Ukrainian native exuded an enormous amount of confidence, despite being viewed as a gargantuan underdog. In spite of his overwhelming self-belief, Chukhadzhian (21-2, 11 KOs) would go on to lose an uncompetitive wide unanimous decision. Although the end results were widely expected, Chukhadzhian expressed his vexation following their showdown.

“Of course I’m disappointed,” said Chukhadzhian during an interview with FightHype.com. “I took this fight because I want to win this fight but I lose. It’s a big experience. But anyways, loss is loss.”

Ennis, who snagged the IBF interim crown on the night, had garnered a reputation as one of the hardest-hitting pure punchers in the entire sport. Riding an eye-catching 19-fight stoppage streak, Chukhadzhian forced the Philadelphia native to put his thinking cap on. Due to his perpetual movement and flummoxing angles, Ennis (30-0, 27 KOs) was given no choice but to enlist the help of the three judges sitting ringside for the first time since 2017.

Chukhadzhian though, found himself in deep trouble in round 10. During the period, after making the switch-hitting star miss on countless occasions upstairs, Ennis dug his feet into the dirt and uncorked a pernicious shot to the body. Chukhadzhian, in kind, took his defensive mentality into overdrive as he danced frantically around the ring.

With his mind made up, the 26-year-old appeared relieved as the sound of the final bell rang throughout the arena. Ennis, regardless of one-sided victory, has been the subject of consistent chastisement. Nevertheless, Chukhadzhian urges Ennis’ newfound detractors to get a grip. Having shared 36 mind-exhausting minutes with the up-and-comer, Chukhadzhian confesses that Ennis’ vaunted power is everything that it’s cracked up to be.

“Yea, he actually hit very hard. He catch me a few times in the head. I was not stunned but I feel his punches. In round 10, he catch me in the body. When you fight against somebody with such a hard punch, you don’t want to stop, even if he hurts you. The most important thing for you is not to stop your legs.”