Eddie Hearn says the Jaron 'Boots' Ennis vs. Eimantas Stanionis fight on April 12th is #1 and #2 in the light heavyweight division to prove who is the best champion. IBF 147 lb champion Ennis (33-0, 29) and WBA belt holder Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) headline at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The event will be broadcast live on DAZN.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)
Hearn gave himself a pat on the back for taking out Ennis, 27, in the first of three unification fights he needed to become the undisputed welterweight champion.
Eddie recently failed to arrange a fight for 'Boots' last November with WBO champion Brian Norman Jr., which resulted in Ennis being stuck defending against his IBF mandatory Karen Chukhadzhian in a rematch that fans were not interested in seeing.
Ennis looked awful in that fight, Karen outboxed him and even punched him through many rounds. It's an understatement to say that Chukhadzhian made 'Boots' look terrible. Jaron won the 12-round fight by unanimous decision, but his stock in the boxing world plummeted because he looked terrible.
Ennis recently made matters worse by turning down the biggest payday of his career to fight the WBC interim junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr. at the mass congratulation of Turki Al-Sheikh on February 22 in Riyadh. Fans saw it as a flat out, old fashioned cowardice from Ennis' side. So for Jaron to now fight Stanionis in the April 12 unification, nothing has been done to revive his lost popularity.
The fight American boxing fans wanted to see was Boots Ennis vs. Vergil Ortiz Jr., not Stanionis, who is not well known or thought highly of by Americans. The other two world champions at 147, Brian Norman and Mario Barrios, are also not well respected by the fans.
Wrong opponent
Boots won't get a lot of credit for beating either of those guys, and they will empty achievement if he finally achieves his goal of becoming undisputed at 147. No one will care because fans place more value on Ennis, who has moved up to fight Vergil, Bakhram Muratazaliev, Israil Madrimov and Serhii Bohachuk at 154.
“This is enough. Brian Norman, Barrios, two good fighters. Stanionis is the one. Stanionis is the toughest fight for Boots, and you will see the best against the best. Win the crown and that's what it's all about,” said Eddie Hearn Matchroom boxingsaying who he thinks is the best of the three 147-pounders Jaron Ennis has to beat.
“It's one of the most enjoyable and successful announcements we've ever made because Boots had a dream (to unify the 147-pound division) that we were responsible for managing, which was for him to unify the division to become the preeminent top 147-pounder in the world,” Hearn continued.
“I have to give credit to Stanionis because nobody wanted to fight Boots and maybe the last performance (Karen Chukhadzhian's rematch) was just thinking and this is a brilliant fight. This is the No. 1 and No. 2 featherweight in the world battling the IBF, WBA and Ring Magazine belts to tell us unequivocally who the best 147-pounder in the world is.
Avoiding Ortiz?
This is not a welcome announcement as it did nothing to make fans forget about Boots turning down a risky fight against Vergil Ortiz Jr. February 22. Fans think that Ennis avoided Ortiz, fearing losing to him and seeing his popularity fall further.
Boots has already looked bad in most of his recent fights against Karen Chukhadzhian x 2, David Avsanesyan and Roiman Villa. The last time Jaron looked impressive was three years ago when he knocked out 34-year-old Custo Clayton in the second round on May 14, 2022.
“'Boots' had a lot of criticism for standing behind his dream, and when the (Vergil) Ortiz fight came, when the Teofimo fight came, he told me, 'Eddie, I want to unify the division. I want to win all the belts. Please do it' and we did it. We delivered and now we're at Boardwalk Hall, an arena steeped in history,” Hearn said.
“It will be a great show for all the people who doubted him. All the people who shot at him (Ennis), this is a real fight. On April 12 in Atlantic City, 'Boots' vs. Stanionis for the welterweight title and the Ring Magazine belt. The last two holders of the Ring magazine belt were Terence Crawford and Floyd Mayweather, decades ago
“Plus, (Sugar Ray) Leonard, Hagler, Sugar Ray Robinson. This is the quality that we will see in this fight and this is the statement that 'Boots' will make to prove that he is big pound for pound,” said Hearn.
