Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis once again has Karen problems.

It’s not the scorn of a bitter old white woman standing in the way of the unbeaten IBF welterweight titlist. Rather, the current roadblock in his path is previously conquered foe Karen Chukhadzhian. Ennis was ordered to defend the title versus the Ukraine-born Armenian boxer, who is the current mandatory challenger.

The Ring confirmed that the bout was ordered on July 31, and is likely to move forward. Matchroom Sport chairman and 5k run aficionado Eddie Hearn confirmed in an interview with Charlie Parsons that the fight is on course to take place November. Philadelphia is the targeted destination, which would mark a second straight hometown headliner for Ennish (31-0, 28 knockouts), The Ring’s No. 1 rated welterweight.

Chukhadzhian (24-2, 13 KOs) is unranked by The Ring, but is No. 1 in the eyes of the IBF, which is all that matters in this scenario. The 28-year-old contender from Kiev soundly outpointed England’s Harry Scarff in a May 17 IBF title eliminator in Rothenbaum, Germany. The win was his third straight since a lopsided defeat to Ennis last Jan. 6 in Washington, D.C.

Ennis won every round of their interim IBF welterweight title fight (120-108 across the board). It marked the first time in six years that Ennis went to the scorecards, ending a 20-fight streak. Of that run, Ennis stopped 19 opponents, along with one No-Contest.

Two stoppage victories have since followed for Ennis, along with an upgrade to full titleholder. He battered Roiman Villa in a ninth-round technical knockout last July 8 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The interim title defense was the closest he was afforded to a home game in nearly five years to that point.

Ennis was subsequently named full IBF titlist later in the year. He was due to challenge undisputed champion Terence ‘Bud’ Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) in a title consolidation bout.

Crawford’s team waited until the end of the negotiation period to plead their way out of the matchup. The three-division champ was contractually bound to a rematch clause exercised by Errol Spence (28-1, 22 KOs), which prevented him from entering any other fight. Crawford battered Spence in a ninth-round technical knockout to fully unify the welterweight titles last July 29 in Las Vegas.

Their rematch never saw the light of day. Crawford has since also relinquished the WBC and WBO welterweight titles. The switch hitter from Omaha, Nebraska was also removed as Ring champion as he now holds the WBA 154-pound title.

Matchroom Boxing made the hometown headliner dream happen shortly after they signed the prodigious talent. Ennis defeated veteran contender David Avanesyan via fifth-round stoppage on July 13 at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia.

IBF rules covering mandatory title fights and final eliminators forbid participants from entering other contests during that time.

That said, Matchroom has attempted to explore other possibilities for Ennis. An offer was reportedly extended to WBC titleholder Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs), No. 3 at 147. Ennis’ name was also mentioned by Turki Alalshikh as a potential next opponent for interim WBC 154-pound titleholder Vergil Ortiz.

Neither scenario seemed realistic at first glance. It is now even less so as the deadline looms for Ennis and Chukhadzhian to reach an agreement.

Ennis was left with his mandatory title defense obligation when Cody Crowley was forced out of their scheduled July 13 bout. Crowley was medically disqualified by the Pennsylvania Athletic Commission due to fluid accumulation in his right eye. The unbeaten Canadian southpaw had double eye surgery last November and still unable to fight in July as a result.

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