ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – Jaron Ennis rose to this long-sought occasion Saturday night.

Faced with the most imposing opponent he has fought in nine years as a pro, one of boxing’s most touted talents dominated a fellow undefeated welterweight champion on his way to his most noteworthy win. A relaxed, multidimensional Ennis mostly picked apart a game Eimantas Stanionis to his head and body until Stanionis’ trainer, Marvin Somodio, told referee David Fields to stop their 12-round, 147-pound title unification fight after the sixth round.

Philadelphia’s Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs, 1 NC) dropped Stanionis late in the sixth round. Lithuania’s Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs, 1 NC) bled profusely from his nose throughout the sixth round and had taken a lot of punishment by the midway mark of their bout.

“The biggest thing was me having my fun, being myself and having a live body in front of me,” Ennis told DAZN’s Chris Mannix in the ring. “When I got a live body in front of me, y’all see what happens. I put on a show, I had my fun, showed speed, power, defense, I showed you a little bit of inside game. I showed everything. You know, I feel like, like I said, when I got a live body in front of me, it’s a whole different story. You’re gonna see a whole different Boots. And I’m gonna keep taking it to the next level.”

The durable Stanionis had never been dropped during a sparring session, let alone during an amateur or professional fight, before Ennis sent him to the canvas with a vicious left uppercut that snapped back his head late in the sixth round.

Ennis, 27, retained his IBF title, took the WBA belt from Stanionis and won the previously vacant Ring championship. Former undisputed welterweight champ Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) vacated The Ring’s welterweight title when he moved up to the junior middleweight division last year.

Philadelphia 76ers star guard Tyrese Maxey presented Ennis with his Ring belt following the most satisfying victory of his career. Maxey also walked Ennis to the ring Saturday night.

In addition to adding titles to his collection, Ennis answered detractors who criticized his defense in his previous two wins – a fifth-round stoppage of Russia’s David Avanesyan (31-5-1, 19 KOs) and a 12-round, unanimous-decision win against Ukraine’s Karen Chukhadzhian (24-3, 13 KOs) last year at Wells Fargo Center in his hometown of Philadelphia.

Stanionis, 30, suffered his first loss since Bakhram Giyasov eliminated him from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Ennis wants unification fights with WBC champ Mario Barrios (29-2, 18 KOs) or WBO champ Brian Norman Jr. (27-0, 21 KOs, 1 NC), but Uzbekistan’s Giyasov (17-0, 10 KOs) is the WBA’s mandatory challenger for the title Ennis won from Stanionis.

The aggressive Stanionis bled from his nose for much of their bout, but he took Ennis’ power without incident until the final minute of the sixth round.

Ennis landed on the inside and made Stanionis miss wildly with a right hand in the middle minute of the sixth round. Later in the sixth round, Ennis’ two left uppercuts to Stanionis’ body and a left uppercut to Stanionis’ chin made him take a knee with 33 seconds to go in it.

The gutsy Stanionis beat Fields’ count and defiantly stared back at Ennis as they headed toward their corners. Somodio still sensed his defeated fighter shouldn’t continue.

Stanionis drilled Ennis with a straight right with just under 1:50 on the clock in the fifth round, but Ennis took that shot without incident. Ennis unloaded punishing punches on Stanionis later in the fifth round, which made Stanionis retreat temporarily.

Stanionis began bleeding badly from his nose during the fifth round.

Ennis played to the crowd in the final minute of the fourth round, but Stanionis couldn’t capitalize on his showboating. Ennis landed two lefts to Stanionis’ body barely 30 seconds into the fourth round.

A left-right combination by Ennis caught Stanionis with just under 1:15 on the clock in the third round.

Ennis went down with 1:37 to go in the third round, but Stanionis clearly pulled him to the canvas. Stanionis’ stiff jab snapped back Ennis’ head less than 30 seconds into the third round.

A left uppercut by Ennis in an exchange knocked Stanionis off balance just after the halfway point of the second round. Ennis connected with a left to Stanionis’ body soon thereafter, but the sturdy Stanionis kept moving forward.

Stanionis’ high guard enabled him to pick off most of Ennis punches early in the second round. Stanionis and Ennis dug to each other’s body about 40 seconds into the second round.

Ennis landed a straight left that split Stanionis’ high guard late in the first round. Ennis switched to a southpaw stance with about 1:15 to go in the opening round as Stanionis pressed the action.