IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) is said to be finalizing a unification bout against WBA belt holder Eimantas Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs) in a Matchroom-promoted show on DAZN for April 12 at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The Ring reported that Ennis vs. Stanionis is close to being completed. Staging the fight at Atlantic City is an odd place though, 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 given how bad he looked in his last fight against Karen Chukhadzhian, perhaps it’s better that it’s in Atlantic City.
Ennis’ quest for undisputed
Boots took a lot of fanfare off for calling 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 looks like a waste. The three champions Jaron has 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 a star. Boots won’t have it because the three champions he would fight are completely unknown to the casual fans.
‼️ Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis vs Eimantas Stanionis is now all but finalized for a WBA & IBF welterweight 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 time for Boots to get in the ring with someone,” Tim Bradley told the State of boxingwho chastised 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, Vergil Ortiz, but he chose not to.”
Boots under fire
Jaron Ennis is coming off a poor performance in his rematch against his IBF mandatory Karen Chukhadjian on Nov. 9 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.
Karen made Ennis look really bad in that fight, outboxing him and hitting him with pot shots all night; if not for Chukhadzhian gassing in the championship rounds, Ennis would have lost. If Hearn signs a deal with WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. agreed for a unification bout, Boots could have temporarily avoided the Karen rematch. He would still have to fight, but this could have delayed it and avoided his stock dropping to an all-time low.
Additionally, Ennis made things worse for himself by turning down a career-high payday to challenge Vergil Ortiz Jr. for his WBC interim junior middleweight title on the Feb. 22 Artur Beterbiev card in Riyadh.
That event will be shown on DAZN PPV, and it would have been a perfect vehicle for Ennis to increase his star power with just one fight. To Vergil Jr. to beat would have done far more to turn Ennis into a worldwide superstar than for him to become undisputed champion at 147 by beating three little-known champions. Is it fear on Ennis’ part or a lack of ambition that caused him to turn down the fight against Vergil Ortiz Jr?
I can see which promoter Eddie Hearn is up against trying to turn Jaron Ennis into a star. Boots makes it hard to turn him into a star with his ham hand movements.
 is reportedly finalizing a unification fight against WBA belt-holder Eimantas Stanionis (15-1, 9){kind=link}