In July, Ennis stopped David Avanesyan after five rounds, but ate several sharp right hands through uncharacteristically leaky defense. In November, he and Hearn found themselves cornered into a mandated rematch with Karen Chukhadzhian, whom Ennis shut out the year before. Ennis won another wide decision, but looked less impressive than he had in their first fight. The outing sparked a number of theories – a difficult weight cut; a lack of motivation – but everyone could agree that Ennis seemed no closer to landing a big fight than before.Â
