Ennis vs. Stanionis? Hearn in Talks for Welterweight Unification

Eddie Hearn revealed that IBF Welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is in negotiation for a unification match against WBA champ Eimantas Stanionis. Hearn says he hopes to get the fight made.

Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) has the power and technical skills to give Boots nightmares and possibly beat him.

Unification Fight Brewing

This would be the first of three unification fights that Ennis, 27, needs for him to complete his goal of becoming undisputed champion at 147.

Like in Hearn’s recent attempts at setting up a unification fight for Ennis against WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr. last September, it’ll come down to whether he’s willing to pay.

In that case, he failed to meet Brian’s asking price, leaving Boots (33-0, 29 KOs) stuck defending against his IBF mandatory Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9th. Boy, did Ennis look terrible in that fight, struggling the whole way to winning a 12-round unanimous decision?

“I’m hopeful we get it over the line; we’ll see,” said Hearn to @CharIieParsons about his desires to get the Ennis vs. Stanionis unification fight made. As Hearn says, “We’ll see,” and you can’t get too hopeful because Stanionis will want good money for this risky fight. He would be the underdog, so it makes sense for him to want to be paid top dollar.

If Hearn can’t get this fight made for Ennis, he really needs to think seriously about moving up to 154. He can’t spend the remainder of his career trying to get unification fights and his promoter failing to come up with the loot to get any of them made. It’s not like Ennis gains anything by beating any of these obscure, unpopular champions at 147.

None of them are known by casual boxing fans worldwide. This is more about something Ennis wants for personal reasons than one that will help his career. It won’t help; it’s just a waste of time.