Jaron 'Boots' Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis are close to a two-belt, IBF and WBO, welterweight unification fight for April.

Ennis-Stanionis in April?

IBF champion Boots Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) will face the first high-quality opponent of his career if it comes to fruition, and it will be interesting for fans to see how he responds to the power and pressure of WBA 147. -lb champion Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs).

If there is a fight, it will be a Matchroom show on DAZN. Whether it will be placed on PPV is questionable as Stanyonnis is not well known. Boot has yet to reach that level due to his lackluster opposition throughout his nine-year professional career.

Ennis, 27, has come under fire for his decision not to fight WBC interim junior middleweight champion Virgil Ortiz Jr. on Turki Al-Sheikh's February 22nd card on DAZN PPV in Riyadh. Boot was rumored to have been offered a career-high salary $8 million, Which is a crazy amount for him to turn down.

But he wants to unify the welterweight division to collect four belts before moving up and is vowing to finish what he started, come hell or high water. You hope Jaron doesn't live to regret it later.

Can Boots handle Stanyonis?

“Will we finally get the unification at welterweight he's been waiting for?” Bernardo told Osuna Boxing StateJaron 'Boots' Ennis talking about a unification fight against WBA champion Eimantas Stanionis or another champion.

“They're definitely getting close, and it's a really tough test for Boots. He's looking at a fight against Aimantas Stanionis, who I think is one of the most underrated fighters in all of boxing,” said Mike Coppinger. “After several fights against Virgil Ortiz were called off. He lost all of 2023, and I'm told they're closing in on a deal to fight in April. No deal yet, though.

“It's a big step up for Boots, who haven't fought anyone so far. Stanionis brings pressure; He can punch, and I expect the fight to be done. It will be a matchroom show on DAZN,” said Coppinger.

It's a big step up from who he's been facing for the past nine years, and it's not certain he's going to win this fight. Stanyonis is a good fighter with power, and Bute takes a lot of hits in his fights. He depends on his offense and his defense, and those types of fighters can't do well in the long run.

Eventually, they run into someone with too much energy and they get knocked out. What was surprising was how Ennis was getting lit up in his last fight on November 9th with Karen Chukhadjian, and he's not known as a big puncher.

Finally stepping up

“It's time to step into the ring with someone to boot,” Tim Bradley said. “I can tell you that. He had plenty of opportunities to get in the ring with a lot of guys, Virgil Ortiz at the time, but he chose not to. This was clearly his plan from the beginning. He wants to unify the title against Stanionis.

Bradley is right. It's about time Ennis finally fought someone as he turned down a fight against Virgil Jr. on February 22nd that sure seemed weak.

“I finished reading the film just four days ago. It's going to be an exciting fight,” Bradley said. “Stanionis is a forward fighter, very aggressive. Throw a bunch of punches. He can punch hard with either hand, but can also boot. But the difference is Stanionis, I don't think he understands trigonometry.

“He doesn't understand angles. He can't figure out how to get himself into a different position, because he just knows there's no gas and no brakes,” Bradley said of Stanionis' error.