ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – Jaron Ennis’ father wasn’t pleased with what he saw at times from his son’s corner the night of November 9.

Derek “Bozy” Ennis noticed his son getting hit too much by Karen Chukhadzhian, an opponent the unbeaten IBF welterweight champion shut out on all three scorecards 22 months earlier. Perhaps he couldn’t get up for an underdog the IBF inexplicably forced Jaron Ennis to fight again.

Whatever it was, this wasn’t the type of performance they hoped to produce before another hometown crowd in excess of 10,000 at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. Five months later, Bozy Ennis, Jaron’s trainer and manager, considers his son’s second unanimous points victory over Chukhadzhian a blessing in disguise.

Bozy Ennis never got the sense Eimantas Stanionis wanted to fight his son until he fought Chukhadzhian a second time. He took exception to Tom Brown, Stanionis’ promoter, contending during their final press conference Thursday at Caesars Atlantic City that their fight Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall was one that the WBA welterweight champion always wanted when Lithuania’s Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) and Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs, 1 NC) fought regularly on Premier Boxing Champions cards Brown’s company promoted.

“I’m just listening to Tom Brown talking,” Bozy Ennis said. “You know what I mean? Me and him go way back, too. But he know Boots been asking for Stanionis a long time ago. He never said that just now. You know what I mean? We asked for Stanionis. We asked for Crawford. We asked for Thurman. We asked for what’s his name? Spence. We asked for all of them back then.

“At that time, nobody was willing to fight Boots. And I guess at the last fight, they saw something. They thought they saw something, anyway. But that was a blessing, that last fight. Now everybody wanna fight. Let’s fight. And stop running your mouth. Let’s see who gonna be victorious. I know who gonna be victorious. I don’t think it’s gonna last that long.”

If Jaron Ennis wins this fight convincingly, it’ll be the most noteworthy victory of his nine-year professional career. The 27-year-old Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs, 1 NC) dominated former IBF junior welterweight champ Sergey Lipinets, whom he knocked out in the sixth round of their April 2021 bout at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Kazakhstan’s Lipinets (18-4-1, 13 KOs) had lost only to Mikey Garcia when he encountered Ennis.

Overall, however, Bozy Ennis doesn’t think his youngest son has faced an opponent capable enough of helping him reach his true potential.

“Boots never went to another level yet,” he said. “I hope Stanionis can bring it out of him. You know what I mean? That’s what I’m waitin’ on. You know what I mean? And then you’re gonna see another different Boots. You know what I mean? He just go out there and do what he do. You know what I mean? But if Stanionis can bring it out of him, you’re gonna see something. It’s not gonna last that long.”

DAZN will stream the welterweight title unification clash between Ennis and Stanionis as the main event of coverage scheduled to begin at 8 p.m. ET. In addition to their IBF and WBA belts, they’ll fight for the vacant Ring welterweight title that Terence Crawford vacated last year to compete in the junior middleweight division.