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IBF welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis
defeated Lithuanian Eimantas Stanionis at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic
City to add the WBA and Ring Magazine title belts to his collection
on Saturday night (4/12/25).
The Philadelphian won the fight by TKO between rounds six and seven, when
Stanionis retired in his corner. Ennis’ victory was the best of his
career, and improved his professional record to 34-0, with 30 KOs
and 1 No Contest. Ennis dominated the fight, winning five of the six
rounds of the scheduled 12-rounder before forcing the previously
undefeated Stanionis to quit the bout.
Boots started quickly, establishing an early
body attack and landing with a steady jab and flashy power shots.
Stanionis was competitive and landed his own punches, especially a
strong left hook during the first round. Ennis remained in control in round two, scoring
more body shots as well as combinations to the head and jarring
uppercuts to his opponent’s chin. Stanionis occasionally landed good
left hooks and right hands. These were powerful punches, but Ennis
showed a strong chin and walked through them each time they landed.
The fighters traded in the third round with
both landing well. Still, Ennis won the round. He once again
established his dominance in round four, which he won easily. The fifth was the most competitive of the
fight. Stanionis won at least the first two minutes of the round. He landed hard punches,
jarring Ennis more than once. However, as the round neared its end,
Ennis rallied well, storming back with a barrage of punches that
nearly secured the round. Still, I gave this round to Stanionis.
In round six, Ennis came on strong. He made it
clear that no matter how tough his opponent was, this was his night.
Looking to regain conplete control, Ennis ruthlessly attacked the WBA champ’s body and Stanionis rapidly
began to fade. After an extended attack to the mid-section by Boots,
Stanionis crumbled to the canvas for a breather. He regained his
feet before the count of ten, and finished the round, but just barely.
Stanionis returned to his corner and before the
one-minute respite was over, his team asked referee David Fields to
call an end to the fight. The official result goes into the books as
a TKO at 3:00 of round six. It was the first professional loss for
Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs, 1 No Contest).
The win makes Ennis the IBF, WBA, Ring
Magazine, and lineal world welterweight champion. It was an
impressive win against arguably his best opponent to date. After a
dominant, but less-inspiring outing in November (W12 Karen Chukhadzhian), Ennis
received a hail of criticism. However, in just
eighteen minutes of action against an opponent many felt would give Ennis plenty
of trouble, Boots re-established himself as the hottest - and best - rising
fighter in boxing.
With universal approval of Saturday night’s
performance, all talk about Boots Ennis is now focused on when – or if –
either of the other two 147-pound belt-holders (Brian Norman Jr. (WBO) and
Mario Barrios (WBC)) will step up to face him. There are even calls
for Ennis to move up in weight for bigger and more lucrative
matches.
Hopefully, Boots will be able to achieve his
goal of unifying all four championship belts at welterweight.
Becoming the undisputed 147-pound champion would be an important
milestone. But he will need
willing opponents to do so – a harder task after performing at such
a high level. In any case, the future looks bright for Ennis.
The event was promoted by Matchroom Boxing
(Eddie Hearn) and the four top bouts were streamed live on DAZN. UNDERCARD RESULTS: In a scheduled six-round welterweight fight,
2024 Olympic Bronze Medalist Omari Jones, Orlando, FL, won his
second pro bout (2-0, 2 KOs) with a first-round knockout of William
Jackson (13-6-2, 5 KOs) of Cincinnati, OH
OTHER RESULTS: |
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