Saturday’s welterweight unification fight between Jaron ”Boots’ Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis could be an “instant classic” at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Promoter Hearn believes the fight between IBF champion Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) has the potential to be the “Fight of the Year.
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)
Stanionis can pull off the upset if he can withstand the punching power of Boots and avoid some of the power shots that he throws. The 2016 Olympian isn’t hard to hit, and he’ll have to depend on his power game to defeat Ennis.
Early Stoppage?
Jaron needs to put in one of the performances he had been showing before running into Karen Chukhadzhian. Hearn feels Ennis can do so as long as he’s not drained for the fight. He thought Boots, 27, looked better at today’s weigh-in, with him coming in at 146 1/2 lbs.
Eddie warns that Boots can’t afford to rehydrate 20+ lbs because he’ll be slow and lethargic on Saturday night against Stanionis. Ennis looked pretty big before he started his weight cut for the fight, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he was weighing in the 180s.
“He’ll have to be special to beat Stanionis tomorrow night. I think Stanionis is coming in fired up, charged up in the shape of his life, and you will get a thriller in Atlantic City on DAZN tomorrow night,” said promoter Eddie Hearn to DAZN Boxing about Saturday’s unification fight between Jaron Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis. “I was surprised to hear yesterday [trainer Derek] Bozy [Ennis] call out an early stoppage for Boots.”
The last guy that Ennis knocked out early was David Avanesyan in the fifth round last July. However, that fighter is not on the same level as Stanionis or as young. Boots had an easier task against him than he will on Saturday.
“Stanionis will be aggressive. He’ll probably make some mistakes early, and Boots is a fantastic counter-puncher and a tremendous IQ,” said Hearn. “As the fight goes deeper, of course, the pressure of Stanionis, the engine of Stanionis is going to cause anybody problems.”
Ennis fought better in the later rounds against Karen than he had early on last November. If he can fight like that, he’ll be too much for Stanionis in the second half of the fight.
Instant Classic?
“It’s a great matchup of styles. I can’t see anything but a Fight of the Year contender, and this is exactly what we want,” said Hearn. “We’ve seen some tremendous fights in Saudi and the Ring Magazine cards. Now, we’re seeing another one. It’s on fire on DAZN.
“Tomorrow night, you’ll get an instant classic and something for the pure boxing fans, something for the hardcore, something for casual sports fans, and something for everything in terms of the way he made weight,” said Hearn.
Last Updated on 04/11/2025
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