ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – Eddie Hearn hopes to help Jaron Ennis attain his goal of becoming boxing’s second fully unified welterweight champion of the four-belt era as soon as possible.
After watching Ennis easily handle Eimantas Stanionis on Saturday night, however, Hearn is more convinced than ever that the native Philadelphian will become a champion in at least two higher weight classes as well.
“This guy ain’t losing at ’47, he ain’t losing at ’54, he ain’t losing at ’60,” Hearn said during a post-fight press conference early Sunday morning at Boardwalk Hall. “Watch what he does over the next few years. He’s going through all the divisions.”
The 5-foot-10 Ennis assured doubters that he still gets down to the welterweight limit of 147 pounds rather easily. The fan-friendly fighter nicknamed “Boots” wants to campaign at welterweight until he completes his unification mission by adding Mario Barrios’ WBC belt and Brian Norman Jr.’s WBO title to his collection.
Ennis, 27, dominated Stanionis on his way to a technical knockout. His intelligence, power, speed and athleticism befuddled the former WBA welterweight champion, who was knocked down for the first time as an amateur or professional late in the sixth round.
An unusual combination of two left uppercuts to the body, followed by a vicious left uppercut to the head, enabled Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs, 1 NC) to briefly drop Stanionis to one knee with 33 seconds to go in the sixth round. Trainer Marvin Somodio stopped their bout before the seventh round began because he didn’t want a battered, bloodied Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs, 1 NC) to continue taking punishment unnecessarily.
Ennis added The Ring and WBA belts to his IBF crown and made his strongest case yet to appear on pound-for-pound lists.
“I am still mesmerized by what I saw in there tonight,” Hearn said. “Just one of the greatest performances from, in my opinion – well, now, without question – a pound-for-pound great fighter.”
Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing didn’t release an official attendance figure for the first card Ennis headlined at 12,000-seat Boardwalk Hall. The building appeared to be approximately three-quarters full, though, for what was a star-making performance from Ennis against an undefeated welterweight champion.
“It allows you to talk about the history and the heritage of this place,” Hearn said. “You know, and when you talk about the people that have fought here, you know, Holmes, Foreman, Tyson, Leonard, you know, Mayweather, Gatti, I put this guy at that level – honestly. And it’s difficult, at 27, to talk about those names. But I promise you, one day you’ll be talking about Jaron Ennis in the same way you talk about all those people that have graced this great venue.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.