Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis are close to a two-belt unification fight, IBF and WBO, for April.
Ennis-Stanionis in April?
IBF champion Boots Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) will face the first high-quality opponent of his career if he does, and it will be interesting for fans to see how he responds to the power and pressure of the WBA 147. -lb champion Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs).
If the fight takes place, it will be a match room shown on DAZN. Whether he would be placed on PPV is questionable because Stanionis is not well known. Boots has yet to reach that level due to lackluster opposition throughout his nine-year career.
Ennis, 27, has come under fire for his decision not to fight interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. on the Feb. 22 Turki Al-Sheikh card on DAZN PPV in Riyadh. Boots was rumored to be offered the highest pay day of his career 8 million dollars, which is a crazy amount for him to turn down.
But he wants to unify the welterweight division to collect all four belts before moving up, and is committed to finishing what he started, come what may. You hope Jaron doesn’t live to regret it later.
Can the boots handle Stanionis?
“Will we finally get the welterweight unification bout you’ve been waiting for?” said Bernardo Osuna to the State of Boxingspeaking of Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis wanting a unification fight against WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis or one of the other champions.
“They’re certainly getting close, and it’s a very tough test for Boots. He’s looking for a fight against Eimantas Stanionis, who I think is one of the most underrated fighters in all of boxing,” said Mike Coppinger. “He lost all of 2023 after several fights against Vergil Ortiz were cancelled, and I’m told they’re closing in on a deal for a fight in April. No deal yet, though.
“This is a big step for Boots, who hasn’t fought anyone tough yet. Stanionis brings the pressure, he can throw punches, and I hope the fight goes to the end. It will be a Matchroom show on DAZN,” he said Coppinger.
It’s a big step for Ennis who he’s been fighting for the past nine years, and it’s not a given that he’s going to win this fight. Stanionis is a good fighter with power, and Boots takes a lot of hits in his fights. It depends on your offense being your defense, and those types of fighters don’t do well in the long run.
Eventually, they encounter someone with too much power and are knocked out. What was surprising was how Ennis got lit up by Karen Chukhadzhian in their last fight on Nov. 9, and he’s not known for being a big puncher.
Finally, moving forward
“It’s about time Boots got in the ring with someone,” said Tim Bradley. “I can tell you that. He had a lot of opportunities to get in the ring with a lot of guys, Vergil Ortiz, but he decided not to. Obviously, that’s been his plan from the beginning. He wants to unify titles against Stanionis.”
Bradley is right. It was about time Ennis finally fought someone because he looked weak the way he turned down the fight against Vergil Jr on February 22nd.
“I finished studying film four days ago. It’s going to be an exciting fight,” Bradley said. “Stanionis is a fighter who advances, very aggressive. Throw punches in handfuls. He can hit hard with either hand, but so can Boots. But the difference is that Stanionis, I don’t think he understands trigonometry.
“He doesn’t understand angles. He doesn’t understand how to get into a different position, because all he knows is gas and no brake,” Bradley said of Stanionis’ flaws.
