The week that was: Jaron Ennis-Eimantas Stanionis

Tuesday, April 8

Eimantas Stanionis was absent when he and Jaron “Boots” Ennis were scheduled to come face to face for the first time in the week of their fight for the IBF and WBA welterweight titles. It is on Saturday at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall that they both enter what is expected to prove the toughest fight of their respectable careers, but they were denied the opportunity to secure a potential psychological advantage when Stanionis struggled to reorganize his flight from Los Angeles to Philadelphia in time to be at the Boys and Girls Club of America, in Atlantic City, early on Tuesday evening.

Ennis, 27, had visited one school in his home city of Philadelphia earlier on Tuesday. There had also existed plans for him to visit another, but fears surrounding possible violence between the youths of the Philadelphia neighborhood of Strawberry Mansion, where those plans were scheduled to unfold, meant that they were abandoned. 

Stanionis, perhaps, can empathize. His heavily pregnant partner could even give birth to the baby they are expecting before he makes his way to the ring on Saturday – atypically, she will not be present on fight night – and it is therefore even more difficult for him to make plans.

In the Lithuanian’s absence – and there is little question that the both talented and promising Ennis is the biggest attraction involved in Saturday’s promotion – Ennis sat answering questions asked by both children and teenagers with an admirable humility and warmth. The IBF champion is far from the most vocal of fighters, regardless of the wit and charisma BoxingScene and others have witnessed when he is away from microphones and cameras, but from the center of an indoor basketball court he was happy to answer repeated questions from an audience sat on rows to one side of that court, aware as he no doubt was that that audience had minimal understanding of his profession.

If Ennis is to prove himself the next great welterweight of the modern era – Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and Terence Crawford are the others – then the day will no doubt come when many of that audience reflect fondly on their memories of having spoken to him. When he answered that Mayweather, Roy Jones Jnr, Pernell Whittaker and James Toney were among his favorite fighters it was difficult to avoid the conclusion that Mayweather wouldn't have handled a similar occasion with anything like the same consistent grace. The solitary time a question led to a slightly different reaction from him was because it surrounded whether he could beat Jake Paul. That he wasn’t instead asked about Mayweather or Crawford was another reminder of the ability of the particularly limited Paul to market himself, but Ennis saw the funny side of what he had been asked before making clear what he felt when – after almost instinctively scoffing – he said: “Jake Paul’s not a fighter for real. For sure, yes [I could beat him].”

Ennis was joined on Tuesday by his manager Everett McNeely; his father and trainer Derek “Bozy”, who off the back of Ennis’s success has become one of the world’s most sought-after trainers, wasn’t yet in town. The professional “Boots” Ennis, regardless, has decided to remain in Atlantic City from Tuesday until after his 34th fight, even though he is aware that his home is only in the region of an hour away by car. 

“I don’t care – I’m locked in, we’re ready to roll,” he similarly responded to one member of his promoter Matchroom’s social media team when they asked about the 30-year-old Stanionis’ absence, apparently in the hope that he would be critical. “I don’t care,” he then laughed

Ennis, by then, had finished his Q&A session, paused briefly to watch the highlights of his convincing victory in 2023 over Roiman Villa that were being shown, and then seamlessly found the net with the basketball he had picked up while the children and teenagers queued to use VR headsets with which they could box. He, once again, had succeeded in giving very little away. He wasn’t, however, shy when predicting that his 34th victory would come inside the distance on Saturday night. 

Wednesday, April 9

If tension exists between Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis, it’s minimal. On Wednesday, at Atlantic City’s Caesars Hotel and Casino, they came face to face for the first time in the week of a fight that is expected to prove the most testing of both of their careers, and the IBF and WBA welterweight champions were even more content being side by side than Jake Paul is when linking himself with unlikely fights against fighters actually deserving of respect.

Tellingly Matchroom – the promoters of Saturday’s fight at the Boardwalk Hall – had only one security individual present to oversee that face off, aware, as they apparently were, that even with both fighters still in the process of making weight there was little chance of them requiring separating. Eddie Hearn – who will inevitably promise “one of the fights of the year” and later describe what unfolds as “one of the fights of the year” while speaking as though it has surpassed expectations – isn’t in town to assist with promoting their unification title fight until Thursday, and therefore also wasn’t at Wednesday’s face off, but both fighters willingly accepted instructions from some of Matchroom’s less senior staff as some of the final promotional content was shot. 

One of those instructions was given incorrectly, requiring both fighters to commit to another attempt, but neither hesitated or showed the slightest hint of frustration. Their demeanors ultimately revealed a mutual respect for each other as humans and fighters, considerable confidence in their chances of victory, and a refreshing lack of interest in feigning a rivalry for the sake of endlessly demanding social media platforms in the hopes of building their individual profiles and that of their fight. Neither fighter, at any stage in either of their careers, has appeared driven by fame; it is transparent that both would sacrifice fame for success in the ring.

If theirs is an approach that will be lost on much of the on-screen talent of the broadcasters of Saturday’s fight DAZN, it would also come as little surprise to those aware of who they are both surrounded with. The modest Stanionis’ wife Emily has remained in Lithuania because she is due to give birth to their first child, a baby daughter, on Thursday, and has encouraged him to be absent to prepare for and enter his biggest fight because of its potential to transform his career. Ennis, 27, was joined on Wednesday by his warm, polite and humble parents. His father, Derek “Bozy”, is also his trainer, and his mother continues to prepare his meals. The IBF champion may, from Saturday evening, be regarded by all as the world’s finest welterweight, but his father will continue to expect him to train three times a day, six days a week, and also to keep his feet on the ground.

“It’s respect,” the 30-year-old Stanionis told BoxingScene afterwards. “It’s a big fight. For the belts, and I don’t know if we need to sell this fight or not. I think they’ve sold out already.”

Both fighters’ names are appearing in the marketing material around the Boardwalk Hall in an attempt to sell the remaining tickets – a check on Wednesday demonstrated that it is far from sold out. But it is also little secret that the culture surrounding fights in the US is often subject to what is described as “walk ups” – those who simply wait until fight night to queue up and buy their seat at the fight.

Perhaps the most significant takeaway from Wednesday’s face off was the size advantage the 5ft 10ins Ennis will take into the ring on Saturday. For the first time he has employed a nutritionist to help him make the 147lbs weight limit; regardless of his success, it is unlikely he will be able to do so many more times.

“I don’t even know him, so how can I dislike him?” Ennis later told BoxingScene of his opponent. “I’m here for one thing – one – and that’s bring home the WBA belt and that Ring Magazine belt, and be unified champ. You can’t really take nothing from no face-off, besides if a guy’s trembling or shaking a little bit. You can’t really tell from a face-off. I didn’t really care.”

The Philadelphia-based Ennis and even his Lithuanian opponent in so many respects perfectly capture the culture of the proudly working-class city he is a product of. Increasingly it seems fitting that they will fight so nearby on a promotion supported by other talented east-coast fighters; it seems even more fitting that Ennis may prove the symbol of the revival of boxing on the east coast of the US.

Thursday, April 10

It’s spring-break season in the US, but Atlantic City, New Jersey, is atypically cold. What already represents the bleakest and most run-down of cities is even less appealing as a consequence of the chilling winds that are as difficult to avoid as the joylessness that exists throughout its sparsely populated casinos.

If the streets that paint so unavoidable a picture of hopelessness are at even greater risk of decline as a consequence of Donald Trump’s gambling with America’s economy, the city’s Boardwalk Hall will perhaps provide a sense of escapism and substance to its residents when, on Saturday, Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis contest the IBF, WBA and Ring Magazine welterweight titles. More relevantly, for Uzbekistan’s Shakhram Giyasov, it may prove – and it is to be hoped that it will – the most cathartic haven of all.

The understated nature of both Ennis and Stanionis perhaps made it inevitable that the arrival of Matchroom’s Eddie Hearn on Thursday in Atlantic City to promote “Claim the Crown” would transform the nature of the occasion.

Hearn separately described two fighters on the same undercard as “the future of the sport” and “the next big star of American boxing". He also promised that the main event would prove the “fight of the year” and be “a 10,000 sellout". That Ennis was playing sudoku on his phone from the top table of that same press conference would no doubt also have made it easier for a charismatic promoter to have such an effect.

By a considerable distance more striking, however – and to the extent it provided an arresting reminder that much of what he had been saying was trivial – was Hearn discussing the picture of the career of Giyasov.

The 31 year old is the mandatory challenger to the WBA title held by Stanionis, and has been told that he can therefore be expected to fight the winner of Saturday’s main event. He fights Argentina’s Franco Ocampo on the undercard, and does so less than a month after the tragic death of his infant daughter.

Giyasov was already on course to fight on Saturday, but he is demonstrating bravery above and beyond that of even those recognized as the toughest of fighters by remaining committed to the same fight date. He has also already spoken of promising her that he would become a world champion, and by extension perhaps explained the sense of duty with which he will fight.

“This fight is for my daughter,” Giyasov said, in broken English in a video released by Matchroom. “Of course, for me it’s very bad, because I love her. I miss her. I promised my daughter – I promised my parents – I want to be world champion.”

“We spoke to him, and he wanted to carry on fighting,” Frank Smith, Matchroom’s chief executive, told BoxingScene. “He didn’t want to pull out of the fight.

“It’s difficult to understand anyone’s mindset if you haven’t been through it. Everyone’s going to have a different position with it. His focus now is to win a world championship. He was committed. He wanted to fight, he wanted to focus himself on the fight, and that’s what he’s doing.

“We want to do what’s right for him. We spoke to his team, and he’s in charge. Our job is to deliver for him and be there for him around these tough times. No one can really understand what he’s going through apart from him. We’re all just here to support him as best as possible.

“The fact he’s here and he’s focused on going ahead shows everything about him. We would have supported him with any decision he made. You have to completely respect the man he is and the decision he’s made to go ahead with this fight.”

It is little secret that the retirement of the late and popular Arturo Gatti – much like that of Matthew Saad Muhammad before him – further undermined Atlantic City’s economy. There hasn’t been a focal point for its fight scene since the decline, in the late 2000s, of Kelly Pavlik. Giyasov won’t prove capable of succeeding Pavlik, but Ennis – of nearby Philadelphia – might, and in the event of victory for them both, Giyasov could prove his next opponent. In the bleakest of places and in the bleakest period of life, the most painful part of Giyasov’s existence is giving him strength, and perhaps cause for hope.

Friday, April 11

One of the oddities of a ceremonial weigh-in is that there are times that those in attendance gather to watch a fighter fail to make weight. 

BoxingScene arrived at Friday evening’s weigh-in at Caesar’s Hotel and Casino, for the appealing IBF and WBA welterweight title fight between the respective champions Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis, aware that Argentina’s Franco Ocampo, who has been matched with his fellow welterweight Shakhram Giyasov of Uzbekistan, came in three pounds overweight having already earlier been heavier and even further over the limit.

Their fight, regardless, will still take place on Saturday evening at the Boardwalk Hall, and for that reason everyone in town for Ennis-Stanionis – dozens of staff for Matchroom, DAZN, and beyond – watched him again weigh in over the limit and make of mockery of the “ceremony” of which he was a part.

David Diamante, the master of ceremonies for Matchroom and DAZN, also struggled to deliver. He announced Ennis – the face of boxing in Philadelphia, the IBF welterweight champion, the significant asset for Matchroom and DAZN and the chief attraction involved in Saturday’s promotion – as 32-0. The 27-year-old Ennis is actually 33-0. He has even said more than once in the build-up to Saturday’s fight that once it is over he will be 34-0. Diamante’s oversight was also in contrast to those working for the same organisations who worked to improve the lighting for the weigh-in after being disappointed with it for Thursday’s press conference in the very same place.

Those working on behalf of Stanionis perhaps showed greater attention to detail in the request they made to the New Jersey Athletic Control Board overseeing Saturday’s promotion that Ennis be instructed to shave his beard. Their request was dismissed. 

The nature of a ceremonial weigh-in perhaps also presented Ennis with another potential advantage. He has the frame to eventually fight at middleweight, which is something his father and trainer Derek “Bozy” Ennis expects him to one day do. He therefore has even more time to rehydrate to his desired fighting weight against the smaller opponent he will share the ring with on Saturday evening.  

“It’s going to benefit ‘Boots’ Ennis a lot more,” the retired Sergio Mora, in Atlantic City on behalf of DAZN, explained to BoxingScene. “He’s a taller fighter; wider shoulders. You can see that Stanionis is a much smaller 147-pounder. The muscle’s already there. It’s Ennis who’s going to look bulkier, and the confidence of knowing that he can rehydrate as much as he wants is going to be the confidence he needed and didn’t have with Karen Chukhadzhian in his last fight. 

“Boots has a chip on his shoulder from his last performance. He felt he let a lot of people down. We’re going to see the best of Boots Ennis – something special [on Saturday night].

“I asked Stanionis that question [about how much Ennis is going to weigh] and he didn’t want to answer but I think Ennis is going to rehydrate by [up to] 15lbs. When a fighter’s in good shape, 15lbs is probably the max – anything else shouldn’t be good for the fighter. But 15lbs should be good.

“He’s a tall fighter; wide shoulders. If he still wants to carry that power the most I can see him going to is 160lbs [when in future he moves up in weight]. He’s probably going to reign supreme at 154 for some time.”

Shakur Stevenson has made it to Atlantic City to be present to support his friend Raymond Ford, who is trained by Stevenson’s cousin Tarae. Stephen Fulton Jnr, trained by “Bozy” Ennis, is expected to be present on Saturday in support of “Boots”. 

Incidentally Stanionis’ wife Emily was due to give birth to their baby daughter on Thursday. After Friday evening’s weigh-in, their first child was still to be born. 

Saturday, April 12

The relative desolation of midweek Atlantic City was finally replaced on Saturday by a hive of activity led by those present for Jaron Ennis-Eimantas Stanionis, and by the time they left the Boardwalk Hall having witnessed “Boots” Ennis’ finest performance, the anticipation that could be detected felt entirely apt.

Staff for the promoters Matchroom, media and undercard fighters were difficult to avoid at Caesar’s Hotel and Casino, and not one of those BoxingScene spoke to was expecting anything less than a good fight; most were also expecting a convincing performance from Ennis.

Ennis was said to have spent the entire day by himself in his room, having prayed with those close to him on Friday evening – and prayed for Stanionis and his wife Emily, who are expecting their first baby. He’d also spoken to those around him about wanting to hurt Stanionis and make a statement as a consequence of the criticism of his performance in his rematch with Karen Chukhadzhian that left him determined to prove a point, and had spent much of fight day watching his previous fights. 

Perhaps inevitably, he was also said to have been relishing the fact that he wasn’t having to weigh in for a second time under the rules of the IBF, and though he apparently had no desire to weigh himself on fight day, he was expected to be well over 160lbs. 

When Shakur Stevenson’s cousin Zaquin Moses was in the process of stopping Alex Pallette, Stevenson and Raymond Ford were supporting him from ringside. Richardson Hitchins could be seen shortly before that; the picture that was painted, particularly on the undercard of a promotion led by Ennis, was that regardless of Matchroom’s traditions in the UK and desire to expand into Australia, the east coast of the US may prove their most potent territory of all. 

“Boots just walked into the building – Boots!” was shouted out over the tannoy at the same time as footage of his arrival was shown on the big screens. The same footage had appeared on social media almost an hour earlier, however, and given the recognition of how accessible social media is to everyone at occasions of that nature, it seemed strange that anyone would attempt to mislead.

Lithuania’s Stanionis, not unlike other Eastern European fighters in New Jersey, was well supported on fight night. So, too, was Uzbekistan’s Shakhram Giyasov, whose stoppage of Franco Ocampo weeks after the death of his daughter ought to prove as memorable as what Ennis did next.

The “walk-up” culture of ticket buyers in the US meant that when BoxingScene enquired about the attendance after Raymond Ford’s victory over Thomas Mattice in the chief support, tickets were still selling. Eddie Hearn had predicted a crowd of 9,500, but between 8,000 and 9,000 seemed a more accurate estimate. 

To be around Ennis and his father and trainer Derek “Bozy” is to detect that both are warm, friendly and courteous. There was little purposefully sinister about his ring walk, and yet the very transparent sense of relaxation and confidence they and those around them demonstrated as they smiled and casually made their way from the dressing room would have been intimidating for almost any other opponent, and also would have been for Stanionis, were he not similarly stoic.   

What followed was not only the very good fight that so many had come to expect, but a performance and statement certain to prove among the most memorable of what is increasingly likely to be Ennis’ decorated career. He had promised that he would not only impress but make Stanionis look one-dimensional, and he did so convincingly. 

Above all else while in the ring and trading punches he was remarkably relaxed and enjoying himself. With the very best fighters there are evenings on which it seems unfair on their opponents that they are sharing the ring with them, because the very best have an answer to everything and appear capable of delivering even more, even though their opponents are having to give their all simply to survive. Ennis, as is also witnessed with the very best, was able to shrug off the occasional mistakes he made. He is certain to be one of the world’s leading fighters throughout the coming years.