WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis says he plans on doing a little bit more than IBF champ Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to beat him this Saturday, April 12th, in their unification fight, live on DAZN from the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City in New Jersey.

Stanionis feels that Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) can be beaten, and he wants to turn the fight into a brawl because he believes that’s his best path to victory. Ennis can be hit. His last opponent, Karen Chukhadzhian, was landing plenty in their fight on November 9th. Some of Ennis’s other opponents, like Roiman Villa, were teeing off on him.

“He’s talented. You can’t find that kind of talent in 20 years. He can switch, he can bang, he can box and everything. He has all the skills. No doubt about it, but no one is unbeatable,” said Eimantas Stanionis to Sean Zittel, talking about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. “Everything a little bit extra. The win, the hunger, and the motivation,” said Eimantas when asked what he must do to offset the ability that Ennis has.

Stanionis will have to adapt and switch things up at times because he can’t stay with one style the entire fight and hope that it works. Ennis can do a lot of different things, and he’ll quickly figure him out if he staysicks with just one game plan.

The Brawl Strategy

“When I go in the ring, it’s 47 minutes. I’m not going to box. It’s going to be a fight. I’m going all in. It’s my biggest fight, my most important fight. This is for me. I want to see what level I am at and what I can do. I believe in myself, and I don’t care what others say,” said Stanionis.

He’s going to have to slug with Boots Ennis to have a chance of winning because he doesn’t have the skills to outbox him. Ennis’s last opponent, Karen Chukhadzhian, did, but he ran out of gas in the second half of the fight. I wouldn’t hurt if Eimantas tried to box a little to frustrate Ennis a little the way Karen did.

“He doesn’t talk a lot of trash. He’s a nice guy. I met him at the Face Off. He and his father are nice people,” said Stanionis. “Yeah, I think, but I’m not looking at that fight because you can have a day off or bad night or bad camp or, in his case, fighting the same guy a second time.

“All these things matter,” said Stanionis when asked if he noticed how Karen Chukhadzhian was able to frustrate Ennis in their rematch last November. Everybody in the U.S has big expectations for for him. He’s under pressure.”