IBF welterweight champion Jaron 'Boots' Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) is reportedly finalizing a unification fight against WBA belt-holder Imantas Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs) on April 12th in a Matchroom-broadcast show on DAZN in Atlantic City. , Boardwalk Hall in New Jersey.

the ring Reports that Ennis vs Stanionis is close to being finalised. However, staging the fight in Atlantic City is an odd location, as there aren't many boxing events there these days. It would make more sense for the fight to be in Boots' hometown of Philadelphia, but given how bad she looked in her last fight against Karen Chukhadjian, it's probably better to be in Atlantic City.

Ennis' Quest for the Undisputed

Boot drew a lot of criticism from fans for turning down a fight against Virgil Ortiz Jr. at 154 in favor of staying at 147 to continue working towards becoming the undisputed champion at welterweight.

Ennis, 27, has the right promoter, Eddie Hearn, to make his dream come true, but it still seems like a waste. The three champions Jaron will beat, Stanionis, Mario Barrios and Brian Norman Jr., are not household names in the United States.

Terence Crawford's popularity rose when he defeated Errol Spence to become the undisputed welterweight champion in 2023, but he was a star. Bute won't have it as the three champions he will be fighting are completely unknown to the casual fan.

‼️ Jaron 'Boots' Ennis vs. Imantas Stanionis is now all but finalized for a WBA and IBF welterweight world title unification bout on April 12 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, The Ring has learned. pic.twitter.com/JM3dQa8xuT

— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) January 19, 2025

“It's about time the boots get in the ring with somebody,” Tim Bradley said Boxing StateBlaming Jarron Ennis for coasting without ever fighting an A-level fighter in his entire nine-year professional career. “He had a lot of opportunities to get in the ring with a lot of guys, Virgil Ortiz at the time, but he didn't choose to.”

Boots under fire

Jaron Ennis is coming off a poor performance in his rematch against his IBF mandate Karen Chukhadjian Nov. 9 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

Karen made Ennis look really bad in that fight, outboxing him and hitting him with potshots all night; Had Chukhadjian not gassed in the championship round, Ennis would have lost. Should Hearn strike a deal for a unification fight with WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr., Boots could temporarily avoid a Karen rematch. He still had to fight, but it could have stopped it and his stock would have avoided an all-time low.

On top of all that, Ennis made things worse for himself by turning down a career-high payday to challenge Virgil Ortiz Jr. for his WBC interim junior middleweight title on the Artur Beterbiev vs. Dimitri Bival 2 card on Feb. 22 in Riyadh.

That event will be shown on DAZN PPV, and it will be a The perfect vehicle Ennis to increase his star power in just one fight. Beating Virgil Jr. would do much more to make Ennis a worldwide superstar than to become the undisputed champion at 147 by defeating three lesser-known champions. Is it fear on Ennis' part Or the lack of ambition that forced him to turn down a fight against Virgil Ortiz Jr.?

Can I see the promoter? Against Eddie Hearn Jaron is trying to make Ennis a star. Boot is making it difficult for him to become a star with his ham-handed moves.