Another Boots Strap – Boxing News 24

Jaron “Boots” Ennis (34-0, 30 KO) overpowered Eimantas Stanionis (15-1, 9 KO) in Atlantic City to add the WBA welterweight championship to his IBF belt. Boardwalk Hall had palpable energy as the building hosted its first major title fight since 2014, when Sergey Kovalev beat down Bernard Hopkins. Philadelphia 76ers point guard Tyrese Maxey walked Philly native Ennis down to the ring, and unlike the 76ers this season, Ennis lived up to expectations.

Ennis set the tone with a stinging jab. Stanionis had a few stretches of success but had no real answers for Ennis, who seamlessly switched stances and varied his attack between the head and the body. By the sixth round, when Boots buckled Stanionis with a combination of body shots that brought him down to a knee, the result was a foregone conclusion. Stanionis’s trainer, Marvin Somodio, opted not to send his fighter back out for the seventh round, punctuating Ennis’s masterclass.

Ennis had received criticism for his last couple of performances. Was Boots the next big thing in boxing, or had the hype not matched his results in the ring? While Ennis was a 6/1 favorite going into this bout, Stanionis came in as a credible opponent many observers saw as the second-best welterweight in the world. Ennis demonstrated why most observers see him as the top dog in the welterweight division. Following the bout, Ennis echoed that sentiment: “When I fight top-of-the-line guys, you see a different me. When I’m fighting for something, it’s a whole different story. Can’t nobody mess with me.”

The bout helped delineate a hierarchy at 147 pounds. The division has been muddled since two years ago when Terence Crawford pummeled Errol Spence to become the undisputed champion before moving up to the 154-pound weight class and vacating all four welterweight championships.

With the win on Saturday night, Ennis now holds two of the welterweight division’s four championships. Brian Norman Jr. (27-0, 21 KO) is the WBC champion, and Mario Barrios (29-2-1, 18 KO) is the WBO champion. Ennis has previously said his goal is to win all four belts in the welterweight division before moving to the 154-pound weight class.

Last November, Ennis and Norman Jr. were close to fighting to unify their two welterweight championships. When the two sides could not agree on Norman’s compensation for the bout, Ennis pivoted to face Karen Chukhadzhian instead, a man Ennis had already beaten convincingly. Ennis won easily and underwhelmingly. Ironically, Norman Jr. would not have been able to fulfill that November date; an injury in training camp caused Norman to undergo a second surgery on his left hand.

Norman Jr. recovered from the procedure, and the 24-year-old defeated Derrick Cuevas at the end of March in his first defense of the WBC championship. Following the knockout win, Norman Jr. called out WBO champion Mario Barrios. “Barrios is babysitting his belt, trying to hide in the corner. Step outside, and let’s make it happen.”

WBO champion Mario Barrios is intriguing for a few reasons. His last bout was on the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson Netflix card, producing arguably the fight of the night in an exciting draw against Abel Ramos. While Norman Jr. called Barrios out, Barrios is not lacking for potential challengers. In recent months, Barrios has had his name invoked by Connor Benn, Danny Garcia, and Manny Pacquiao, among others. It is up for debate whether these camps and others see Barrios as a draw because of the exposure he received on Netflix or if he has so many people calling him out because they see the WBO welterweight championship as ripe for the picking.

As one of boxing’s glamour weight classes, the welterweight division has been host to many great fights and ruled by many legendary fighters. A power vacuum emerged after Terence Crawford razed through the division and moved up to 154 pounds. There was doubt as to whether Jaron “Boots” Ennis was up to filling the shoes of the welterweight kingpin. With his showing at Boardwalk Hall, Ennis has ended those doubts. Whether it is Mario Barrios, Brian Norman Jr., or another challenger, anyone who wants to take on Jaron Ennis and claim welterweight supremacy better bring their combat boots.