Per Frank Bay: The main event could not meet from top to bottom to the hype on a terrible map. The only thing I could think of while watching Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis Eimantas Stanionis knocked out, wondering what weight is fighting.
After the end, the only question I had was whether there was drug testing for this fight. While Stanionis looks like a strong, well-built, decent 147-pound, Ennis looked like a super-middle weight. But I think the dead giveaway was the size of the tap of Jaron Ennis. It looked three times as big as his fights in the past, where he was flawed.
The reality is that because of Boxing’s lax rules, it was not a good fight the day it was signed. We knew that Stanionis had been inactive for more than a year and a half and had one fight in almost three, but the size of the size looked. Now it’s clear why Stanionis was such a massive underdog.
Many of us thought it was a closer battle on paper because Stanionis was a champion. For the most part, this kind of unification fights in box usually mean that the fighters are equal to talent. But now we see the reason why Ennis avoided moving up to 154. He has a significant benefit against any natural fighter of 147 pounds.
While Stanionis had his moments, Ennis never threatened by the much smaller man. Ennis uses much lateral movement combined with keeping a stitch in Stanionis’s face. Stanionis could never get inside and the body worked as he wanted to. There were maybe 3 to 4 real exchanges, but the considerable power benefit that Ennis had was clear. Ennis’s body shots had a noticeable effect early on Stanionis.
The status quo
Stanionis was play and gave everything he had. The size difference on Fight Night was just too much to overcome. The announcement team of Mora and Mannix accumulated a big shine on Ennis, but even they had to admit that Ennis’s massive size was different, combined with the lack of activity of Stanionis, was the decisive factor.
Yet at the end of the fight, they conveniently overlooked it and tried to convince naive fans that this victory puts Ennis on the P4P list. This was a clear example of the company Shilling.
I realize that they are only doing their job, but how can fans take them seriously and consider them credible if they do not admit that it was not a fair battle?
Stanionis gave it all he could, and printed the action until Ennis finally dropped him during an exchange. Ennis was somewhat marked by a tight, solid Stanionis jab, but it wasn’t enough. It was disturbing to see his corner throwing the towel. Sergio Mora calls it a ‘no mas’, which I think is unfair, because it was not Stanionis who stopped. An angle must let their man go out on his shield in a battle of that magnitude. Stanionis may never have this opportunity again.
Now, earlier, I mentioned that it was not a fair battle. This is why the odds reflect it, even against fans who feel it is a big fight. I also predicted that we would see the unexpected, and I once again nailed it. Stanionis -keeping was the last thing someone expected.
Weight bullying is a thing
But it must be beaten like a dead horse. We must emphasize that Ennis was a super -middle weight in the ring, such as when Devin Haney was almost dead to earn 135 pounds, so that he could be at least 160 pounds plus on a fancy.
It is a 25-plus weight difference on the voucher. It is not out of the question that Ennis was somewhere in those lines. There is no one truth that Ennis can deny 3 weight classes above Stanionis.
Ennis fans will scream that it is fair because he has made weight. The usual dishonest arguments in the bad faith will start in the start. But my proof and evidence are none other than Eddie Hearn and Ennis who admits they are weight bullying.
Hearn’s most important belief that Ennis would win was that he was fighting in a unification that would make him fully hydrate. Ennis confirms the same thing Eddie said. These surveys smoke guns to the dishonest naysayers. Hearn and Ennis acknowledge that they drain to the point of almost fatal consequences.
No one in their right mind would take such drastic measures if it wasn’t for a good reason. No person with any honesty and integrity would risk their health, death or worse, for minor benefits. Anyone who argues this is not done for the benefit of the setting of bullying is either a liar or completely blunt.
Proof in the pudding
During the run -up to the main event, Richard Hitchins was questioned. He talked about what to hydrate fully. Hitchins are also another weight bully. He told fans how it was done and why it was done.
Hitchins at one point refused to challenge Subriel Matias, as it was an IBF-sanctioned fight, which meant he would not be able to use his best weapon, to be a weight bullying. In simple terms, it is not fair.
Look at one of Devin Haney’s biggest excuses to lose against Ryan Garcia: The 3 pound Ryan came in. Devin cried that he had to kill himself to make weight, and Ryan did not. So we know that weight is an important determining factor when it comes to the fairness of a fight.
Boxing went to weighing in the roads for safety reasons from the same day. Now, in a counter-intuitive measure that is becoming even more dangerous, fighters like Ennis and Haney can negotiate almost two days before a fight over weight in weight.
This allows less time to kill their bodies and more time to hydrate safely. This makes it so that fighters who have no business in a specific weight class can kill themselves, so they can naturally choose smaller men. This is done knowing that they have a clear advantage because they can bend the rules. In other words, they may legally cheat the system.
Not only is it fraud, but it is more dangerous to allow this type of fraud because of the health risk it poses. It enables fighters to fight opponents that in a fair system they would not be able to do so. It is only a common sense to realize that a fighter is more at risk of fighting a man three times his size than forced on the same day to weigh in.
In a similar way, but in the opposite direction, Tank Davis made sure that Ryan Garcia couldn’t weigh in to the mid -afternoon of their struggle, ensuring that Ryan killed his body so much more. Indeed a very dirty tactic. Knowing what is going on, weighting and rating is a big factor in determining the winner.
It is surprising, to say the least how fans and critics are, by the way, overlook what we all see. If fighters go up in weight and beat bigger men, it is considered the highest performance in box, as Crawford tries to do with Alvarez.
If true, it should also be frowned when many larger men use careful tactics and less than ethical strategies to get a sports benefit.
Therefore, with the knowledge in mind, I must say that I was not impressed by Ennis’s infected victory. It was like looking at a bodybuilding competition where you understand that none of it really is. There is nothing sporty or competitive about it. None of them are natural athletes, and they kill themselves for the illusion of winning.
Finally, this horrible map and its upcoming schedule reminded me why I canceled my Dazn annual subscription and bought only month to month when I fight what I am worth seeing. The Raymond Ford match made me hate.
Ford’s opponent, Thomas Mattice, fought as if he was getting a nice envelope behind the stage. The other battles were just more can-crushing. If it wasn’t for Stanionis Corner, he would have been quite forgotten this night.
In secretion, not much can be said about Ennis until we see how he fights someone of his own size. One thing I can assure you is that the other big names may not want to fight what they see, but not for the reasons given.
No, I can promise that the other names want an even playing field against Ennis. They want Ennis to be tested before, during and after the fight. Do not be surprised if fights fall against him due to problems with testing, weighing in and hydration.
The boxing people who know are all on notice. Last night was not fair, and there is no chance that a boxing handlers will cheat on their fighters.
Last updated on 04/13/2025
