Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis are closing in on a fight to unify the IBF and WBO welterweight belts in April.
Ennis-Stanionis in April?
IBF champion Boot Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) will face a top-flight debutant if successful, and it will be interesting for fans to see how he reacts to the power and pressure of WBA 147.-lb champion Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs).
If a fight is made, it will be a Matchroom show on DAZN. Whether it will be included in the PPV is doubtful because Stanionis is not well known. Boots has yet to reach that level due to his outrageous opposition throughout his nine-year career.
Ennis, 27, received a lot of criticism for his decision not to fight WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. on Turki Al-Sheikh’s February 22 card on DAZN PPV in Riyadh. Boots was rumored to have been offered a higher payday for the job of $8 million, which is a crazy amount to refuse.
But he wants to unify the welterweight division to collect all the belts before moving up, and vows to finish what he started, come hell or high water. He hopes Jaron doesn’t live to regret it later.
Can Boots Handle Stanionis?
“Will we finally get that Unification fight at welterweight he’s been waiting for?” said Bernardo Osuna on State of Boxing, talking about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis seeking a unification fight with WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis or another champion.
“They’re getting really close, and it’s a really tough test for Boots. “He’s looking at a fight against Eimantas Stanionis, who I think is one of the best fighters in boxing,” said Mike Coppinger. “He lost all of 2023 after multiple fights against Vergil Ortiz were canceled, and I’m told they’re closing in on a fight deal in April. There is no agreement yet.
“This is a big step for Boot, who has never fought anyone hard. Stanionis brings the pressure; he can hit, and I hope the fight will end. That will be the Matchroom show on DAZN,” said Coppinger.
It’s a big step up for Ennis who he’s faced in the last nine years, and it’s not a sure thing that he’ll win this fight. Stanionis is a very strong fighter, and Bots is a heavy hitter in his fights. He relies on his offense being his defense, and those types of fighters don’t do well for long periods of time.
Eventually, they meet someone with superpowers, and they get kicked out. What was surprising was how Ennis was outclassed by Karen Chukhadzhian in her last fight on November 9, and she’s not known for being a big puncher.
Finally He Rises
“It’s time for Boot to get in the ring with someone else,” said Tim Bradley. “I can tell you that. He had many opportunities to get in the ring with many guys, Vergil Ortiz at the time, but he chose not to. This was clearly his plan from the beginning. He wants to unify the titles against Stanionis.”
Bradley is right. It’s time for Ennis to finally fight someone because it looks like he’s weak with how he wasted his fight against Vergil Jr on February 22nd.
“I just finished reading the film four days ago. It’s going to be an interesting fight,” said Bradley. “Stanionis is a warrior who comes forward, he is aggressive. He throws punches in bunches. He can hit any hand hard, but so can Bro. But the difference is that Stanionis, I don’t think he understands trigonometry.
“He doesn’t understand angles. He doesn’t understand how he finds himself in a different place, because all he knows is gas and no brakes,” said Bradley about Stanionis’ mistakes.
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