IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) will face WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) in a two-fight unification bout at 147 on April 12, live on DAZN from Boardwalk Hall (Atlantic City, New Jersey).
Can Ennis shine?
This is the unification bout that Ennis, 27, has been craving since he was promoted to IBF welterweight champion in November 2023. Potts needs an impressive showing in this fight, as he has looked average in his last four fights against Karen Choukhodjian × 2 and David Avanesian and Roiman Vila.
You could say this is Boots' first test, but after his last fight against Chukhadzhian, it's hard to imagine a more brutal matchup for him than this one. He made Karen look like a mini-Artur Beterbiev with the way he was absorbing punishment from the Ukrainian fighter in their rematch at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on November 9.
If Stanionis is a better fighter than Karen, Jaron could lose this fight on April 12 and make Eddie Hearn regret signing him.
Ennis' decision to turn down a bigger payday in a fight that would have turned him into a debut against interim WBC junior middleweight champion Virgil Ortiz Jr. on next month's Riyadh season card on February 22, makes it all the more important that he shines against Stanionis.
Boxing fans believe Potts is a fighter who lacks ambition and self-confidence after being tutored twice by Choukhodjian.
Stanionis is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision over Gabriel Meister on May 4 of last year. He looked better in that fight than Ennis has in any of his last four contests.
Henn: “This is No. 1 versus No. 2.”
“It's simply a fantastic fight,” said promoter Eddie Hearn. “When we signed Potts, I told him we were going to offer him a unification, so it's great to get through this for Jaron, and I know that with the biggest fight of his career ahead of him, he will shine brighter than ever. Emantas is a brilliant fighter, and that Without a doubt, he is No. 1 and No. 2 in the division.
Stanionis is viewed as No. 2 in the division, but WBO champion Brian Norman Jr. and WBC champion Mario Barrios could be better. None of these guys have dealt with good enough opponents in the division to say who's No. 1 or No. 2.
Ennis has made up his mind that he wants to stay at 147 until the bitter end to try to become the undisputed champion, no matter how long it takes. Some might argue that this is foolish and slows down Potts' career, but the alternatives could be worse. If Ennis moves up to 154, he will have to battle the hitters in that division, who hit harder and are better than him defensively.
“I feel good. I finally get a chance to fight for a world title. As I was saying before I became champion, I never had the opportunity to fight for a world title,” Jaron Ennis said. YSM Sports MediaIn response to the announcement of the unification struggle against Stanionis today.
“Now, I got my chance, and I'm about to unify and collect these belts. This is what I wanted. I feel good; I feel good about it. I'm excited, and I felt like I couldn't leave the division without getting what I wanted.
“I feel like this is what I want. It's going to be a crazy ride. I'm going to put on a show and go back to enjoying being myself. I don't know, and I don't really care. I don't care about that kind of stuff,” Potts said when asked if having this fight with Stanionis would calm the critics. “.
