IBF 147-lb champ Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis says the fans that have been jumping overboard, abandoning ship after his recent performance against Karen Chukhadzhian, will be back to loving him again after he defeats WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis in their unification fight on April 12th at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) hasn’t looked impressive in his last four fights since stepping it up against higher-level opposition in 2023. The praise that Boots was once lapping up has disappeared entirely, and there are whispers that his former success was a product of him feasting on C-level 140-pounders.
Boots’ Struggles
– Karen Chukhadzhian x 2
– David Avanesyan
– Roiman Villa
Performance Dip
Nothing has changed with Ennis, besides his fighting better opposition and struggling against them. His next fight against Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) on April 12th will tell us a lot about whether he can turn things around and start looking impressive again.
The one you got to feel sorry for right now is Eddie Hearn. He signed Ennis to a lucrative contract to Matchroom, believing he was 24k gold. Thus far, he’s turned out to be fool’s gold. Hearn thought he had stumbled onto a treasure signing Boots, seeing him as the next star for Matchroom. However, it looks like Ennis has already exhausted his nuclear fuel, with his core collapsing to be transformed into a dwarf star. If you’re Hearn, you can’t get rid of Ennis soon enough if he can’t reverse the process of core collapse.
With how Ennis has looked, it’s no wonder he turned down a well-paying fight against Vergil Ortiz Jr. at 154 and has chosen to stay at the dead, barren, lifeless 147 lb. division, where it’s easy pickings. The division is filled with beatable opposition. If Boots had accepted that fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr. for the February 22nd event in Riyadh, it wouldn’t have ended well for him. Vergil Jr. is red hot right now, and we would have beaten him worse than he did Israil Madrimov.
Fan Backlash
“I’m not trying to sound like a broken record. Tank says, ‘They love you and then they hate you. Then they love you again,’” said Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to Way Up With Angela Yee, reacting to the fan criticism. “That’s how it go. After this performance next Saturday, they’re going to be back loving me again. It’s crazy, but it’s boxing.
“No matter what I do, they have something to say. I beat somebody 12 nothing. ‘Oh, you should have knocked them out.’ I knock somebody out. ‘I don’t know if he’s got a gas tank.’ I went 12 rounds. No matter what I do, they have something to say. You got to do what’s best for you, and not worry about what they have to say,” said Ennis.
Fans have been critical of Boots Ennis because he’s no longer looking like the fighter he was before he stepped up the competition. Karen Chukhadzhian exposed Ennis twice, outboxing and out-punching him in their two fights.
Boots looked depressed after his rematch with Karen last November at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. He knew Karen had schooled him and didn’t want to make eye contact with his promoter Eddie Hearn afterward. There was nothing he could do about what had happened in that fight. Hearn appeared to be trying to cheer him up, but it was useless.
Title Pursuit
“That’s what I’m here to do,” said Boots when asked if his goal is to still collect all four belts at welterweight to become undisputed champion. I’m locked in on Stanionis. Once I win these belts next Saturday and become Ring Magazine and WBA champ, IBF champ, and unified champ of the world, we’ll see what’s next after that.
“Right now, I’m locked in on him. I’m not worried about nobody else. I’m zoning in on him. I’m ready to give everybody what they’re asking for,” said Ennis.
Last Updated on 04/03/2025
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