| |
|
Philadelphia’s IBF world welterweight
champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs, 1 NC) finally gets an
opportunity for a unification bout on April 12th in Atlantic City at
Boardwalk Hall. In the Philadelphian’s first chance to take on one
of the other three world welterweight champions, Ennis is scheduled
to meet WBA world welterweight champion, Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9
KOs, 1 NC), of Lithuania. After chasing every other top 147-pounder
over the past few years, was this sudden opportunity due to his last
performance?
In November, Ennis won a repeat decision victory
against the Number 1 IBF contender, Ukraine’s Karen Chukhadzhian
(24-3, 13 KOs). Ennis won with scores of 119-107, 117-109, and
116-110. Normally, this type of win would be considered impressive.
However, when they fought in January of 2023, Ennis won by shutout
scores of 120-108 on all three cards - mainly because Chukhadzhian
ran the entire fight in survival mode. The Ukrainian won his next
three fights and earned the Number 1 spot again. The streak sent him
into the rematch with Ennis, and this time, Chukhadzhian came to
make a fight of it. Many fans expected Ennis to score a knockout in
the second fight. Thus, some believe this most recent performance
against Chukhadzhian made Boots a more attractive opponent to the
other welterweights and landed him the upcoming unification fight.
Ennis vs. Chukhadzhian II
The WBO Interim champion, Brian “The
Assassin ll” Norman Jr. (26-0, 20 KOs, 2 NCs), of Conyers, GA, is
scheduled to earn full ownership of the title if he defeats Puerto
Rican challenger Derrieck Cuevas (27-1-1, 13 KOs), on March 29th in
Las Vegas.
San Antonio’s Mario “El Azteca” Barrios (29-2-1, 18
KOs) is the WBC Interim champion, who fought to a draw with Abel
Ramos (28-6-3, 22 KOs, in his last outing (November 2024). Had he
won the fight, Barrios would have gained full recognition as the WBO
champion. Barrios has not yet scheduled his next fight, although a
rematch with Ramos is a strong possibility.
It would be nice
if Norman and Barrios eventually met to set up an undisputed
showdown with the Ennis-Stanionis survivor, or at the very least, if
either Norman or Barrios would sign to face the winner of
Ennis-Stanionis. One other option for Boots would be to meet his
long time former amateur rival Gary “The Last” Antuanne Russell
(18-1, 17 KOs), now the WBA world super lightweight champion.
Russell won three of four amateur bouts against Ennis. A match in
the pro ranks, at the championship level, would be most interesting.
Despite his potential future options, everything is riding
on Jaron’s performance against Stanionis in April. With all eyes on
Ennis, after a fight many have called lackluster, he must win, and
do so convincingly, to stem recent criticism and clear the way for
these other matches.
In this writer’s opinion, Ennis has not
received the credit he deserves. Many have said, “He hasn’t fought
anyone.” However, attracting accomplished, high-profile foes has
been an issue for Boots. Even the former undisputed welterweight
champion Terence “Bud” Crawford declined meeting Ennis, opting
instead to move up to 154 pounds. Crawford has not fought since his
WBA/WBO jr. middleweight title-winning effort in August of 2024. Now
he is expected to jump two more weight divisions to meet super
middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in September. Crawford
has indicated that the big payday against Canelo may be his final
fight.
Ennis needs willing opponents to establish his place
in the welterweight division and on today’s pound-for-pound list.
Norman, Barrios, and Crawford would be excellent matches, but
standing in the way is Eimantas Stanionis, thus far, the only other
world champion willing to step up against Boots. For Ennis to move
on to bigger opportunities, he needs to continue to prove himself in
Atlantic City.
|
|
|
