Will ‘Boots’ Ennis Rise to the Challenge? Unification Fight Against Stanionis Seen as Major Gauge of His Championship Caliber

Trainer / former four-division world champion Roy Jones Jr. says this Saturday’s fight will tell fans a lot about IBF welterweight champ Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’s ability when he takes on WBA champ Eimantas Stanionis in a unification fight on April 12th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event will be shown live on DAZN, starting at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.

Roy Jr. notes that Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) was looking for big fights in the past against Terence Crawford and Errol Spence but never got the opportunity. Now, he’s got a hungry, ambitious fighter in front of him, unbeaten Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs), and he’s going to have to raise his game because he’s not fought anyone like this before.

Doubts About Boots?

Jones Jr. fails to mention Ennis’s recent struggles, including his two poor performances against Karen Chukhadzhian and the punishment he received in his fights against David Avanesyan and Roiman Villa. Boots, 27, didn’t look like the same fighter in those contests that he did when he was feasting on 140-pounders. When Jaron’s promoter stepped him up against better opposition, he did not turn in the superb performances that fans had grown accustomed to.

What was telling was how Boots turned down a reported career-high payday fight with WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. on the February 22nd card in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Some believe that Ennis’s confidence was shot to pieces from the life-and-death struggle he had in his rematch with Karen on November 8th at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Karen looked like the second coming of Floyd Mayweather Jr in that fight, picking off Boots with pot shots all night, making him miss and playing to the crowd in Ennis’ hometown. The Ukrainian had the crowd eating out of his hand like lap dogs that night.

Ennis Under Pressure

“We’re to find out a lot about Jaron Ennis because Stanionis is a very good prospect [Note: Eimantas Stnaionis is a WBA welterweight champion, NOT a prospect], up and coming guy. We’re going to find out a whole lot about Jaron Ennis in this fight,” said Roy Jones Jr. to Pro Boxing Fans about this Saturday’s clash between IBF 147-lb champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and WBA champ Eimantas Stanionis at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

“Stanionis has been looking for this opportunity for a long time. He wants the Spence and Crawford guys before the Spence-Crawford ever happened. So, he’s been in the background looking for an opportunity for a long time. This guy is not an easy guy. It’ll tell us a whole lot about Eimantas,” said Roy Jr.