Ennis vs. Stanionis’ light heavyweight unification is scheduled for April 12 in Atlantic City
IBF light heavyweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) is reportedly wrapping up a unification fight against WBA belt holder Eimantas Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs) on a Matchroom-promoted show on DAZN for April 12 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Ring reports that Ennis vs. Stanionis is close to being finalised. However, staging a fight in Atlantic City is a strange place, as there aren’t many boxing events there these days. It would make more sense for the fight to take place in Boots’ hometown of Philadelphia, but considering how bad he looked in his last fight against Karen Chukhadzhian, it might be better if it’s in Atlantic City.
Ennis’s quest for the undeniable
Boots received a lot of criticism from fans for turning down a fight against Vergil Ortiz Jr. at 154 in favor of staying at 147 to continue working towards his goal of becoming the undisputed welterweight champion.
Ennis, 27, has the right promoter, Eddie Hearn, to make his dream come true, but it still feels like a waste. The three champions Jaron needs to beat, Stanionis, Mario Barrios and Brian Norman Jr., are not household names in the US
Terence Crawford’s popularity soared when he defeated Errol Spence to become the undisputed welterweight champion in 2023, but he was the star. Boots won’t have that because the three champions he would fight are completely unknown to the average fan.
‼️ Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis vs. Eimantas Stanionis is now all but finalized for a WBA and IBF light heavyweight world title unification bout on April 12 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, The Ring has learned. pic.twitter.com/JM3dQa8xuT
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) January 19, 2025
“It’s about time Boots got in the ring with someone,” said Tim Bradley Box conditionberating Jaron Ennis for going his entire nine-year professional career without fighting an A-level fighter. “He had a lot of opportunities to get in the ring with a lot of guys, including Vergil Ortiz, but he decided not to.”
Boots under fire
Jaron Ennis is coming off a poor performance in his rematch against his IBF mandatory Karen Chukhadzhian Nov. 9 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Karen made Ennis look really bad in that fight, outboxing him and hitting him with potshots all night; if he hadn’t shut down Chukhadzhian in the championship rounds, Ennis would have lost. Had Hearn made a deal with WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. for a unification fight, Boots could have temporarily avoided a rematch with Karen. He would still have to fight, but that could delay him and avoid his stock falling to an all-time low.
On top of that, Ennis made matters worse for himself by turning down a career-high payday to challenge Vergil Ortiz Jr. for his WBC interim junior middleweight title at Artur Beterbiev vs. Dmitry Bivol 2 card on February 22 in Riyadh.
That event will be shown on DAZN PPV and would be a perfect vehicle for Ennis to increase his star power with just one fight. A victory over Vergil Jr. would do far more to turn Ennis into a global superstar than it would for him to become the undisputed champion at 147 by defeating three little-known champions. Is it fear on Ennis’ part or the lack of ambition that caused him to turn down a fight against Vergil Ortiz Jr.?
I see which promoter Eddie Hearn is against it is trying to make Jaron Ennis a star. Boots makes it hard to turn him into a star with his ham moves.