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Jaron “Boots” Ennis has finally landed the unification fight he has been waiting for.
IBF champion Ennis and WBA titleholder Eimantas Stanionis will unify the welterweight belts on April 12th at the Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey, Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing confirmed today. Ennis vs. Stanionis will stream on DAZN in the U.S.
Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) won the IBF interim title with a 10th-round KO win over Roiman Villa in 2023. After the Errol Spence Jr.-Terence Crawford undisputed championship bout, the IBF title was vacated, and Ennis was upgraded to full champion.
Ennis signed a three-fight deal with Hearn’s Matchroom after that upgrade, then defended the belt twice in his hometown of Philadelphia. Ennis halted David Avanesyan in five rounds in July 2024 and decisioned Karen Chukhadzhian four months later in an unpopular rematch.
With Ennis on the last fight of his deal, Matchroom was under pressure to deliver him a marquee bout – and it has done just that. In a major risk, “Boots” declined big-time fights with Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Teofimo Lopez because of his desire to face another 147-pound champion. Now that gamble seems to have paid off.
Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) dethroned Radzhab Butaev to claim the secondary version of the WBA welterweight championship in April 2022. He managed zero bouts in 2023 as he was ordered to defend against Vergil Ortiz Jr., only to have Ortiz withdraw from the clash on two separate occasions.
The Lithuanian ended a two-year layoff when he outpointed Gabriel Maestre on the Canelo Alvarez-Jaime Munguia undercard in May 2024. Stanionis was upgraded to full WBA champion in August and now will end an 11-month layoff when he enters this unification bout against Ennis in April.
Ennis and Stanionis are rated as the No. 1 and No. 2 welterweights in the world respectively. Due to those rankings, the Ring Magazine championship will also be on the line in this fight.
To make the unification bout possible, WBA mandatory challenger Shakram Giyasov agreed to step aside from his position. The Ennis-Stanionis winner will also have to face an IBF mandatory that will be determined in the March 1 Lewis Crocker vs. Paddy Donovan matchup in Belfast, U.K.