While Jaron "Boots" Ennis was being praised, his father Derrick "Bozy" Ennis looked at his performance as simply another night at the office.
Eimantas Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs) was expected to do more than test and push the Philly star. According to some, he was to produce an upset victory by exploiting Ennis' defensive weaknesses. Team Ennis, however, didn't understand what anyone was talking about.
It was easy for
Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs, 1 NC) up until that point but Stanionis stood before him like a man who could take the violent punishment coming his way but also dish it out. In the end, he couldn’t.
Ennis destroyed Stanionis in virtually every possible way before forcing the Lithuanian's head trainer Marvin Somodio to throw in the towel after six completed rounds of their IBF/WBA unification April 12, also adding the vacant Ring Magazine title to his collection.
Five weeks removed from their two-belt unification taking place, Ennis' father and trainer still looks back on that display with a smile on his face. As he analyzes how things unfolded, he made sure to give Stanionis the respect he deserved before praising his son.
"Stanionis looked like he was an amateur compared to Boots," Ennis told YSM Sports Media. "Stanionis is a tough fighter but Boots made it look easy."
Ennis was comically good that night. However, don't get caught up in the mintia of his performance. For practically his whole career to date, he hasn't been forced to shift gears.
His C game, maybe even his D game, has proven more than enough to get the job done. Beating a fellow world champion in Stanionis though, required more than that. While he's certain his son didn't go out there and show the world everything he can do, Bozy believes the 27-year-old gave us a glimpse of the potential he's bursting to showcase.
"Boots got levels, different levels," he continued. "Stanionis made him go to that first level but he's got much more after that."