IBF welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis will need to defend his newly won WBA title against his mandatory Shakhram Giyasov next rather than taking a unification match against WBO champ Brian Norman Jr. or WBC belt-holder Mario Barrios.
Giyasov’s Threat
Giyasov (17-0, 10 KOs) will be a risky fight for Ennis because he’s technically more skilled than him, and he’s huge for the division. Last Saturday, Giyasov looked like a junior middleweight, knocking out Franco Ocampo in the fourth round at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlanta City, New Jersey. With Giyasov’s size, power, and technical skills, he could defeat Boots.
Promoter Eddie Hearn won’t be happy that Boots will be taking the difficult fight against Giyasov so soon, but it can’t be avoided. If Ennis wants to vacate, he can. That’s the only way he can swerve Giyasov.
The 2016 Olympic silver medalist Giyasov already stepped aside to allow Stanionis to fight Ennis in a unification fight. He’s not likely to step aside again, and why should he have to? Ennis doesn’t have a unification fight on tap for his next fight.
Norman (27-0, 21 KOs) is believed to be defending against #2 WBO Jin Sasaki next in Japan for big money. The heavy-handed Sasaki (19-1-1, 17 KOs) already called out Norman Jr. after his last fight against Derriek Cuevas on March 29th, and Brian Jr’s dad liked that fight.
Boots’ promoter, Eddie Hearn, was banging on at the post-fight press conference last Saturday night about how he wants the unification fight against Brian Norman Jr. or WBC champion Mario Barrios. Neither of those fights is going to happen. Barrios is rumored to be fighting Errol Spence. If that fight doesn’t happen, Manny Pacquiao is the other guy. Both of those fights will be huge paydays for Barrios.
“Just Playing” Claim
“This kid has so many gears and levels to go through. I said to him, ‘You took a few,’ and he was like, ‘Yeah, I was just playing,’” said Eddie Hearn to Boxing Social about Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis’s win over Eimantas Stanionis last Saturday.
Ennis wasn’t playing. He was getting caught by Stanionis because he has poor defensive skills. His flawed defense was even more noticeable for this fight because he was opening himself up by fighting aggressively.
“He [Stanionis] was taking a beating. His nose was busted,” said Hearn. “You talk about Brian Norman. All people care about is money. The whole point in sport is proving you’re the best, and it’s really tiring when you have people that are getting offered eight or ten time more than they’ve ever made to prove themself against a great in a great fight.”
The money that Stanionis reportedly made for the Ennis fight was $1.8 million, which was well below the $2.2 million that Brian Norman Jr. and his father want to fight Boots. Last time, Norman Jr. was offered $1.7 million. So, Hearn is only bumping up his pay by $100,000 for a fight against Boots.
The $1.8 Million Offer
“You just want to continuously to price yourself out,” said Hearn. “Tonight, Boots took less money so we could overpay Stanionis. He made a fortune tonight. We’ll pay Norman the same money as Stanionis [$1.8 million], which is a fortune. But Boots isn’t taking less anymore. We’ve got to give him more money because he deserves to be paid. There’s got to be an element of wanting to fight the best and prove yourself.
“You need to put in performances like that on a stage like that for me to stand in the ring and say, ‘I f*** told you.’ This kid [Ennis] is the one. He’s 27-years-old,” said Hearn.
Last Updated on 04/14/2025
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