By Frank Bay: Eimantas Stanionis is fearless and not buying into the hype job Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. And why should he? If he were Eimantas Sandavol of Jalisco, Mexico, instead of Stanionis of Lithuania, this fight could rival the legendary night of Julio Cesar Chavez vs. Meldrick Taylor in terms of hype and commercial buzz. But Stanionis is a little-known, inactive Eastern European with no notable wins on his resume who was gifted an email belt.
Ennis was also gifted his belt and currently stands as a manufactured former Showtime/PBC hype job with no notable names on his resume in 30-plus fights. Ennis’s claim to fame is being Errol Spence’s #1 Challenger at one point and clout-chasing Terence Crawford when Crawford allowed himself to be stripped of his title rather than face him.
It can be argued whether Crawford ducked Ennis or not. The truth is that none of Ennis’ hype is ring-based. His most notable win is perhaps Roiman Villa. Villa is known for beating former hype job fringe contender Rashidi Ellis. All of Ennis’ hype is based on the narrative that other fighters have been ducking him. None of which is based in fact and is purely the speculation of his minimal fan base. One thing Ennis has going for him is that he is a Philly fighter. Being a Philly fighter has a certain allure amongst boxing fans. Factual or imaginary, it is a sellable story.
While this should be a major boxing event, unfortunately, it’s not. Stanionis is a virtual unknown Eastern European, and Jaron Ennis has the personality and charisma of a mop. No slight to Ennis; all he wants to do is focus on boxing. That’s a good thing, but being able to sell yourself, especially in boxing, is a necessary ingredient. Look no further than Ryan Garcia if you want to know why it matters.
I can hear the rebuttals now, but what about Crawford? Somehow, Bud is less likable than Ennis, and he is a boxing star, relatively speaking. My response to that is, is he really? Crawford has the personality and charisma of a bun cake. And that’s why it took him 15 years to even become somewhat of a name in boxing.
Before beating Spence, Crawford might as well have been playing soccer. Or what about Canelo Alvarez? he is not exactly Mr. Charisma, and he barely speaks English. And to that, I say, Alvarez has an entire country behind him the same way Pacquiao and Hatton had. The reality is that America is struggling to find and build its next Golden Boy or ‘Money’ Mayweather because they don’t support boxing anymore like they did in past eras.
Boxing is behind darts on television. Therefore, boxers must realize this and go above and beyond in terms of self-marketing. Hire an acting coach or audition for Dancing with the Stars like past fighters have done. Or better yet, become friends with Jake Paul like David Benavidez has been smart enough to do. But you need to start trending.
Winners and Losers
In terms of talent, based purely on the eye test, Ennis and Stanionis are the top of their class. That might not be saying much because the once glamor division of Leonard’s, De La Hoya’s, Mayweather’s, and Trinidad’s, now welterweight, has Mario Barrios as its biggest name. Barrios is only known for getting knocked out by lightweight Tank Davis and then moving up to earn an email 147 belt. As it stands currently, 147 is a barren landscape. To reignite it we are getting this unification of email champions.
Ennis reportedly turned down a massive check from Turki Ali to face Vergil Ortiz because he stated when he signed with Eddie Hearn that his goal was to become the undisputed 147 champion. This could either be a smart play by Ennis or a massive career-defining mistake.
If Ennis beats Stanionis, he becomes the 147-lineal ring champion. That is a historic accomplishment. Not sure how much credit he will get from critics and fans because Stanionis is largely unproven. Ennis naively feels that beating Stanionis will automatically make him a p4p fighter.
I find that to be a bit delusional on Ennis’s part. He seems to believe that we fans don’t really know boxing and overlook that they are both email champions. Then again, Devin Haney is still on critics’ P4P rankings, so it might not be that much of a stretch.
Now for the big but, but if Ennis takes a loss, then this may be the worst decision a boxer has made since Demetrius Andrade’s entire career of mishaps. I would highly doubt Ennis could rebound from a loss to Stanionis. A loss would only cement the knocks people had on him.
It would confirm that he was a hype job. Crawford would be let off the hook and be able to point and say ‘this the guy y’all said I ducked’. The social media onslaught will be next-level. He could wind up like Naseem Hamed after he was exposed. Never to be seen again. While that is drastic, this is what happens when a fighter and his fans buy into the hype and label themselves the boogeyman.
Claiming they are boxing’s most avoided fighter. This is how Ennis has built his name. Therefore, a loss would be a death blow. Ennis doesn’t seem like the type to be willing to go back to the drawing board and rebuild fighting for peanuts. Also, he would still be too good for the other names to want to give him an opportunity if they do not have to.
That’s the problem with making the failed attempt with a Norman Jr fight so publicly vocal. Now, a loss by either man and the other can point and say See, he was never all that anyway. Mayweather was able to use this tactic throughout his career.
Whenever a fighter was mentioned as a threat to him, he took a loss. he would point and say, ‘Oh that’s the guy y’all said could beat me he just lost to so and so’, allowing him to avoid such fighters throughout his career
No, Ennis must win and win in impressive fashion for him to raise his profile and silence the critics. Anything less than a spectacular victory will all be for naught. The doubters will have their cake. Stanionis is very good, but he is not supposed to win this fight. He is the only top fighter who jumped at the opportunity to face the self-proclaimed boogeyman.
Stanionis, in an interview, stated that he took the fight against his handlers’ advice. His team didn’t feel he was getting a fair deal. They told him the money wasn’t right for a major unification fight like this. Stanionis told his team to make it happen anyway.
He will have all the odds stacked against him on fight night. He will be the road team fighting on Ennis’s turf. He will not have his wife by his side and will miss the birth of his first child. Stanionis is the underdog.
To Run or Not to Run
Style-wise, it’s a classic matchup. Ennis transfers between boxer and boxer-puncher. He has power in both hands, and his chin is decent but not great. We see the talent, but we have not seen him tested. What I don’t like about Ennis is the excuses he has in abundance for his lackluster fights. His excuse for looking average against Karen was a highly dubious statement that he was not properly motivated.
For the life of me, someone should have warned him that saying such a thing was asinine. Getting paid millions of dollars, fighting in front of your hometown for a title, and your answer is a lack of motivation. The correct answer would’ve been I have a lot of work to do. But the truthful answer should’ve been I’m a bit overrated. There can be no such excuse against Stanionis. Stanionis will be there to bring it. He is your classic plodding boxer.
Stanionis looks to break his opponents down, literally. He doesn’t look to box or prance around the ring sticking his tongue out and looking cute. He is no frills. He has decent to good power. His chin appears to be above average, but truth be told, we can’t say for certain because his opposition has been very mediocre. Stanionis is there to be hit, but that’s because he doesn’t mind it. He wants to put pressure on his opponent every minute of every round. He works the head and body, vowing to kill Ennis’ torso all night.
Ennis will have the advantages of size, speed and athleticism. Power should be nullified because both can hurt each other. This should make it a tight affair early. Ennis’s straightforward path to victory is to be the mover. He will want to constantly move Stanionis, making him pick up his feet as he attempts to load up on body shots.
Ennis will have to be careful that he is the mover and not the runner. That will negatively affect the judges and viewers. Ennis knows he must sit and fight at least in spurts to win the crowd over.
This shouldn’t be the case if things are fair, but they are not and Stanionis will likely need a knockout to get the victory. I’m not saying he cannot win a decision but if it is close he shouldn’t expect them to give him the fight. If it is a very close fight, then Ennis will get the hometown decision.
Welterweight Feast or Famine
This should honestly be a bigger fight than it currently is, but that is boxing’s fault. Both men don’t speak much and have had long stretches of inactivity. What we can expect is a good to great fight. This fight will answer a lot of questions for fans and critics alike. Is Ennis as good as advertised?
If Stanionis were to pull off the upset, could he possibly become a star? If Ennis is upset, do we question the validity of glossy records and continue to believe in the fairytales of boogeymen in boxing? Will Eastern Europeans get a fair shake in the States?
If Ennis gets a spectacular win, does that make him a superstar, and does he get the big names next? The only answer I can come up with now is that I have a feeling we are going to see something unexpected. This has the makings of a classic. I’m rooting for the underdog because I tend to root for the underdog, and I don’t believe in Boogeymen. Yet, I have to say that American boxing needs this win in the worst way.
Last Updated on 04/11/2025
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