Karen Chukhadzhian Lands New IBF Eliminator At Welterweight

The winner becomes the next mandatory challenger for the IBF belt currently held by Lewis Crocker.

Chukhadzhian’s continued presence near the top of the rankings is notable because he has already had two opportunities against Ennis. Both fights ended in clear decisions for the Philadelphia fighter, yet the IBF contender system has repeatedly cycled Chukhadzhian back into position.

His first title challenge came in January 2023, when Ennis defeated him by decision to capture the interim IBF belt. The loss ended a 20-fight win streak for Chukhadzhian, whose only previous defeat came in his second professional bout during a one-night Super 8 tournament.

Rather than falling away from the title picture, Chukhadzhian rebuilt quickly. He won three straight fights after the defeat, including a decision over Harry Scarff in May 2024 that returned him to the IBF contender picture.

That run secured him another meeting with Ennis. P2M-Box won the purse bid for the rematch, though the bout eventually landed on a Matchroom card in Philadelphia. Chukhadzhian was knocked down in the fifth round but again lasted the distance before dropping a second decision.

Two more wins have followed since that fight, including a second-round knockout of Joel Mafauad last October in Riga, Latvia.

Those victories kept him high enough in the IBF rankings to land the upcoming eliminator with Donovan, placing him once again one step away from the title.

Donovan arrives at the bout after a turbulent stretch tied to his rivalry with Crocker. He was disqualified in their first meeting last March after knocking Crocker down just after the bell in the eighth round. Their rematch for the vacant IBF belt in September ended in a close decision victory for Crocker after Donovan was knocked down twice.

The Irish southpaw was later scheduled to face Liam Paro in another eliminator earlier this year, but withdrew after falling ill during training camp. Paro moved into the mandatory position and secured a title fight with Crocker. That sequence left Donovan matched with Chukhadzhian in the IBF’s next eliminator.

Under IBF rules, both fighters must remain available for the purse-bid process. If either boxer takes another bout before the eliminator is resolved, the sanctioning body can remove him from the rankings and bar him from IBF-sanctioned fights for six months.