Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis says he’s completely focused on the biggest fight of his career to date as he meets fellow World champion Eimantas Stanionis in a blockbuster Welterweight unification battle on Saturday night at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, live worldwide on DAZN.
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Ennis (33-0 29 KOs) has been itching to land a unification clash at 147lbs and the IBF ruler can take the first step towards his dream of being the undisputed Welterweight king by ripping the WBA strap from Stanionis (15-0 9 KOs) and adding the Ring Magazine title in the process.
‘Boots’ fights under the Matchroom banner for the third time since signing with promoter Eddie Hearn, with defenses against David Avanesyan and Karen Chukhadzhian laying the foundation for what promises to be an epic showdown with the talented Lithuanian.
The 27 year old has long stated that he wants to collect all the belts at Welterweight before moving to 154lbs, but the Philadelphia star is blocking out talk of taking on the rest of the champions to achieve that goal and focusing on what he knows is a tough night’s work on the famed boardwalk.
“I’m here to collect all the belts, and I’m locked in on Stanionis,” said Ennis. “Win on Saturday and I’m the WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine champion, and then we’ll see what’s next. But I am zoned in on Stanionis, no doubt, and I’m ready to give everybody what they are asking for. It’s a big fight for him and I’m glad he’s taken the fight and given the fans what they want. I’m number one in the division, he’s number two, I’m dialed in, I’m so focused on this.
“I’m here to do one thing and that’s put hands on you, that’s it. I’m not trying to talk or go back and forth on the internet. I know that fighters are trying to hype the fight, but when it’s already sold, you don’t need to do it. Everybody is different though.
“I’m at the point right now where I don’t care what people say because it seems that no matter what I do; if I pitch a shut out – ‘oh you should have knocked him out’. If I KO someone, ‘oh we don’t know if he has a gas tank’. I do what’s best for me and I’m locked in on me, I don’t care what other people have to say, and I’m not worried about any other fight but this one.
“The fans want to see a little bit of everything, and I feel I give them that, but I can’t worry about what people say, and if it is negative, then that’s just motivation to shut them up.
“The Chukhadzhian fight was hard because I’ve already beaten the guy 12-0 and we’re forced into fighting him to keep the IBF belt, so at the end of the day you have to do what you have to do. I took care of the mandatory and I’m glad I had the fight with him, it’s made me be a lot smarter in this camp and I’m just ready and I’m so excited for this fight, I will show out for sure.”
Boots and Stanionis clash on a huge night of action in Atlantic City, where Raymond Ford continues his pursuit to becoming a two-time, two-weight World champion as he faces Thomas Mattice for the WBA Continental North America Super-Featherweight title.
Ford (16-1-1 8 KOs) fights at 130lbs for the second time after moving up from Featherweight in November and routing Orlando Gonzalez over ten rounds in Philadelphia. ‘Savage’ won the WBA World title at 126lbs with a stunning last gasp KO win over Otabek Kholmatov in March in Verona, NY and was edged out in his first defense by a razor-thin split decision reversal against Nick Ball in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in June.
Ford sits pretty in the rankings across all the governing bodies and will be eyeing that second World title shot in the back end of the year, but Mattice will see that as a carrot dangled for him, and ‘Gunna Man’ will relish the chance to upset Ford’s plans.
Arturo Cardenas defends his WBC Continental Americas Super-Bantamweight title against Christian Carto, Team USA’s Olympic bronze medal man Omari Jones fights for the second time in the paid ranks against William Jackson over six rounds at Welterweight, Shakhram Giyasov will open the show live on DAZN over ten rounds against Franco Ocampo as the Uzbek man waits for his shot at a World title, while the Before The Bell action sees three young tri-state talents in action as Atlantic City’s Francisco Rodriguez takes on Camden, New Jersey’s Naheem Parker over eight rounds at Lightweight, Philadelphia’s Tahmir Smalls takes on Washington DC’s Bermudan Earl Bascome over eight rounds at Welterweight and Newark, New Jersey’s Zaquin Moses takes on Alex Palette over four rounds at Super-Featherweight.
