Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Imantas Stanionis are closing in on two belts, the International Boxing Federation (IBF) and World Boxing Organization (WBO), in a welterweight unification fight for April.
Ennis Stanionis in April?
IBF champion Boots Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) will face the first quality opponent of his career if it materializes, and it will be interesting for fans to see how he responds to the power and pressure of WBA 147-champion Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs). ).
If the fight takes place, the match room will be shown on DAZN. Whether it will be put on a PPV is questionable as Stanionis is not well known. Potts has not yet reached that level due to the lackluster opposition he has faced throughout his nine-year professional career.
Ennis, 27, has received a lot of criticism for his decision not to fight interim junior middleweight champion Virgil Ortiz Jr. on Turki Al Sheikh's card on February 22 on DAZN PPV in Riyadh. Boots was rumored to have been offered a career-high payday of 8 million dollars, Which is an insane amount for him to refuse.
But he wants to unify the welterweight division to collect all four belts before moving up, and he vows to finish what he started, come hell or high water. She hopes Jaron doesn't live to regret it later.
Can shoes handle Stanionis?
“Will we finally get the welterweight unification bout he's been waiting for?” Bernardo Osuna said to Boxing statetalks about Jaron 'Boots' Ennis wanting a unification fight against WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis or one of the other champions.
“They're definitely getting close, and it's a really tough test for Potts. He's looking forward to a fight against Emantas Stanionis, who I think is one of the most underrated fighters in all of boxing,” Mike Coppinger said. “He's lost all of 2023 after canceling several fights against Virgil Ortiz, and I'm told they're close to reaching a deal to fight in April. No agreement yet, though.
“It's a big step for Potts, who hasn't faced anyone that hard yet. Stanionis brings the pressure. He can hit, and I hope the fight goes away. It'll be like a Matchroom show on DAZN,” Coppinger said.
It's a big step up for Ennis relative to who he's been facing for the past nine years, and it's not a certainty that he'll win this fight. Stanionis is a good fighter with power, and Potts takes a lot of hits in his fights. He relies on his offense to be his defense, and those types of fighters don't do well in the long run.
Eventually, they come across someone with a lot of power, and are kicked out. What was surprising was how Karen Choukhodjian lit up Ennis in his last fight on November 9, and he is not known for being a top fighter.
Finally escalation
“It's time for Boots to get in the ring with somebody,” Tim Bradley said. “I can tell you that. He had a lot of opportunities to get in the ring with several guys, including Virgil Ortiz, but he chose not to. And obviously that was 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 he certainly looked weak when he refused to fight Virgil Jr. on February 22.
“I just finished film school four days ago. It's going to be an exciting fight,” Bradley said. “Stanionis is an advanced fighter, very aggressive. He throws punches in combinations. He can hit hard with both hands, and so can Butts. But the difference is that Stanionis I don't think he understands trigonometry.
“He doesn't understand corners. He doesn't understand how to put himself in a different position, because all he knows is the gas and not the brake,” Bradley said of Stanionis' shortcomings.
