What’s Next For Jaron Ennis?
Jaron Ennis defeated Eimantas Stanionis to unify the welterweight division, as he is now the WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine Champion.
Ennis secured a comprehensive victory stoppage victory to extend his undefeated record to 34-0. This is by far the biggest win on his resume, shutting down the narrative that he had not boxed anybody. This raises questions about where Ennis goes next. He could call out the WBC Welterweight Champion Mario Barrios.
Ennis has repeatedly said he wants to become undisputed at 147, making Barrios a likely opponent. Barrios is seen as the weaker of the other champions in the division. He has already suffered a loss at 140 pounds against Gervonta Davis. Meanwhile, he has also come up short against Keith Thurman at 147, even when One Time was no longer seen as being in his prime.
Options
The other alternative is to face off against the WBO Welterweight Champion Brian Norman Jr. Reports indicated that they were in discussions to have a fight. However, talks broke down after Norman Jr.’s team allegedly wanted more money than was on offer. It is not clear if they would be able to command the same amount of money since Ennis holds more titles. However, if Boots wants to ensure that he becomes undisputed, he may have to pay the extra money in order to get the fight over the line.
If neither of those fights can get made, he could move up to 154 pounds. Ennis is much bigger than welterweight, meaning he has a frame big enough to put on the extra weight. He was reportedly in discussions to fight Virgil Ortiz Jr. at 154 pounds before the Stanionis fight. However, given that Ennis’ focus is on becoming undisputed at 147, the fight never got made. He may even have to face his WBA mandatory Shakhram Giyasov. Either way, Ennis has plenty of options moving forward.
Reaction
“I want to go back and watch it. You know I feel like I was, you know, just getting in my groove. I was starting to get loose, having fun and my dad told me just to keep pressing him. You are going to stop him. And you what’s crazy was I had a dream that I was going to stop him, just like this, in the seventh round.
“But you know things happen man. It came true. The biggest part was just me having fun, being myself and having a live body in front of me. When I got a live body in front of me, you see what happened. I put on a show, I had my fun. [And] I showed you speed, power and defense. I showed you a little bit of my inside game. I showed you everything,” Ennis
Full Card
Jaron Ennis beat Eimantas Stanionis to win the WBA title and the IBF and Ring Magazine welterweight titles.
Raymond Ford won against Thomas Mattice by unanimous decision (10 rounds); Super Featherweights.
Omari Jones defeated William Jackson by knockout in the first round (6 rounds); Super Welterweights.
Shakhram Giyasov beat Franco Ocampo by knockout in the 4th round (10 rounds); Welterweights.
Zaquin Moses won against Alex Pallette by knockout in the 2nd round (4 rounds); Super Featherweights.
Tahmir Smalls defeated Earl Bascome by knockout in the 1st round (8 rounds); Welterweights.
Arturo Cardenas beat Edgar Joe Cortes by technical knockout in the 8th round (8 rounds); Super Bantamweights.
Francisco Rodriguez won against Naheem Parker by retirement in the 3rd round (6 rounds); Lightweights.
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