Boxing
Jaron Ennis Walks Over Eimantas Stanionis Saturday
Fans got the performance they’ve always wanted to see at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall on Saturday night. IBF World Welterweight champion Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis of Philadelphia showed off his immense boxing talents, dealing a beatdown to a game Eimantas Stanionis of Lithuania.
Jaron Ennis had too much firepower and ring control for Eimantas Stanionis to cope with. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) was too big, too powerful, and too fast for a game but outgunned Stanionis (15-1, 9 KOs), causing Stanionis and his trainer Marvin Somodio to retire in the corner after the sixth round. Ennis is now the unified IBF, WBA, and Ring Magazine champion.
Ennis said before the fight he was going to have fun, and he did. He said the difference maker was having a decent dance partner in front of him.
“When I got a live body in front of me, y’all see what happened. I put on a show,” said Ennis.
“I had my fun. I show you speed, power, defense. I show you a little bit of inside game. I show you everything. “Like I said, when I got a live body in front of me, it’s a whole different story. You can go see a whole different Boots, and I’m gonna keep taking it to the next level.”
Ennis Delivers Skilled Win Over Stanionis
Jaron Ennis was the far bigger man in the ring, and the lack of ring activity by Eimantas Stanionis showed. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
The size and reach difference were apparent from the opening bell. Stanionis is a pressure fighter who finds his success moving forward with volume punching. His stoppage wins are by rolling up damage, not by single punches. He kept Ennis honest with hard hooks to the head, but he could not impose himself as he has against previous opponents.
In contrast, Ennis was finding the body of Stanionis, though he said after the fight, Stanionis made it difficult due to his closed, bent-over stance. Nevertheless, Ennis found the target enough to start roughing up Stanionis, who had never been stopped.
Trainer and father Bozy Ennis told his son to work the jab and the uppercut to find his way in, and it worked. Ennis also made things tougher for Stanionis by switching stances and throwing him off.
Eimantas Stanionis suffered a badly bloodied nose in round five. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Somodio told Stanionis he had to let his hands go, and Stanionis began landing more combinations. But it wasn’t enough. In the fifth round, Ennis was backing Stanionis up and bloodied his nose. Ennis was so relaxed, it was hard to believe the two men were in the same ring and in the same fight.
In the sixth round, the reality of the situation was dawning on Stanionis, but he kept on coming. Ennis caught Stanionis with a hard right hook and three successive left uppercuts. Stanionis fell to a knee for the knockdown. He made it to the end of the round.
The sixth round knockdown was the end for Eimantas Stanionis. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Somodio told Stanionis he was going to stop the fight, and Stanionis didn’t argue. It was the right call. Stanionis’ wife is about to give birth to their first child, and the fight had slipped away. There was no need to take more damage to prove a point when Stanionis has a family who needs him.
Credit Stanionis for giving every bit of effort he could. He couldn’t overcome his lack of size compared to Ennis, and the lack of activity in the ring. Training hard in the gym isn’t the same as a fight under the lights, and one fight in three years is not enough.
Ennis: Everything I Always Wanted
Jaron Ennis jumped into the arms of Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn after his victory. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Ennis said it was far more meaningful to him to win the belt from Stanionis than to be elevated to the world champion, as he was with his IBF belt.
“I woke up one morning and I was world champion. I never actually fought for this belt, you know?” gesturing to the IBF belt. “I finally was able to fight for the WBA (title) and take it from the main and beat him. That’s everything I always wanted. It felt way better than sitting in the bed, waking up,” laughed Ennis.
“Every round, I just was getting in my bag, getting in my groove, loosening up, having fun, and I thought I was just picking it up, picking it up, picking it up,” said Ennis. “I’m just getting the party started,” he promised.
Is Ennis The Future of Boxing?
Jaron Ennis has a bright future – in whatever division he decides to pursue next. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
There is no better hype man for his fighters than Matchroom Boxing chairman Eddie Hearn. But Hearn can be forgiven for his excitement over the performance of Ennis, who jumped into Hearn’s arms after his victory.
“Tear up the pound-for-pound list!” declared Hearn. “This is one of the finest fighters in the sport.
“He’s going to be around for a long time. 147, 154, 160. It’s all coming. You’re witnessing true greatness,” said Hearn, calling Ennis the future of boxing.
Ennis demurred when asked about his plans, saying he wanted to enjoy his accomplishment and that he would talk to the entire team about the next steps. His options are to try to unify the welterweight division or consider a move up to super welterweight.
As long as Ennis can make the welterweight limit, the obvious target is WBO champion Brian Norman Jr. Previous negotiations for a fight between Ennis and Norman Jr. fizzled with both sides pointing fingers. It’s an even bigger fight now.
Ford Shuts Out Mattice
Raymond Ford thoroughly dominated Thomas Mattice in ten rounds, winning the WBA Continental America Super Featherweight belt. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
In the co-main event, it seemed Raymond Ford might make it an early night, buzzing Thomas Mattice in the first round of their fight for the WBA Continental North America Super-Featherweight title.
But Ford of Camden, New Jersey (17-1-1 8 KOs) had an opponent in Mattice of Cleveland (22-5-1, 17 KOs) who quickly decided his job was merely to survive to the final bell.
It was an impressive performance by Ford, who won every round on all three scorecards for the decision. Ford has snap on his punches in the super featherweight division while losing no handspeed. Ford gave Mattice no openings and no opportunities for ten long rounds. Still, Ford showed some disappointment in the way the fight went down.
Although Ray Ford won every minute of every round on all three scorecards, he had hoped for a knockout. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
“Ah, I feel like it was OK. He was a solid opponent in there. He was real smart, I did want the stoppage, the knockout. There were times where I hurt him. He would grab me, he was a smart veteran. Hat tip to him.
“He can take a hit. I was trying to set him up with some good shots, but he’s tough,” said Ford.
Ford landed 128 of 510 total punches (25%) against just 24 of 126 punches thrown by Mattice (19%). Mattice’s 24 punches landed in a ten-round fight is the second-lowest in CompuBox history.
Ford now hopes to fight the winner of the upcoming 130-pound title fight between Eduardo “Sugar” Nuñez of Mexico and Masanori Rikiishi of Japan, scheduled on May 28 in Yokohama, Japan.
Omari Jones Bangs Out Another First-Round Knockout
Omari Jones took care of business with a first-round knockout over William Jackson. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Returning to the ring just a few weeks after his professional debut, U.S Olympic bronze medalist Omari Jones of Orlando, Florida (2-0, 2 KO) took out William Jackson of Cincinnati (13-6-2, 5 KOs) with a vicious one-hitter quitter body shot at 1:47 of the first round.
The punch that took down Jackson looked more like it grazed his ribs, but it was a perfectly placed left hook to the ribs. Jackson immediately dropped to his knees and didn’t get up.
Jones said hoped Jackson would get up after he landed the knockout punch to go a few more rounds. “Hey, if I can do something like that, then I’ll go ahead and get him out of there.
“I was in the corner, I was moving, he came out strong. My coaching team told me he came out with big shots. I stayed tight, looked for the shot, and landed it. We’re on to the next one,” said Jones, who added, “I’m built for this moment.”
Shakram Giyasov Scores KO Win As Tribute to His Daughter
Shakhram Giyasov showed off his body punching skills, taking out Franco Ocampo. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Shakhram Giyasov of Uzbekistan (17-0, 10 KOs) delivered his first knockout win in four years with a fourth-round body shot KO of Franco Ocampo of Argentina (17-3, 8 KOs). Giyasov got an early knockdown with a hard hook to the head in the first round. He remained patient, punishing Ocampo’s body to set him up for hard hooks.
It was a stabbing right to the ribs that ended the night for Ocampo, his first-ever knockout loss. “We worked on more body shots, more combinations … we did it,” said Giyasov.
Giyasov fought with a heavy heart. His daughter Miriam passed away in the last month. Giyasov said the fight was for her.
Emotions overwhelmed Shakhram Giyasov as he talked about his late daughter, Miriam. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
“For me, it’s very, very hard … a very hard camp, because I lost my daughter. She’s seeing me. She’s now watching me. She prays for me. I promised her, I promised I would be world champion. I love her. It’s a fight for my daughter.” The Boardwalk Hall audience applauded in a show of their support as Giyasov broke into tears.
Giyasov is the number one ranked contender by the WBA, which makes him the mandatory opponent for XXX, the winner of the main event. “Next fight, I promised for my daughter I would be world champion. She believe me. I know this. Give me a chance, I’ll do it.”
Undercard Results from Atlantic City
Zaquin Moses scored a knockout win over Alex Pallette. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Zaquin Moses of Newark (3-0, 2 KO) wasted no time taking down Alex Palette of Puerto Rico (1-4, 1 KO). Moses landed a stiff left jab in the second round of the fight, forcing Palette to take a knee. Moses couldn’t beat the count from referee Charlie Fitch, ending the fight at 2:13 of the round.
Moses is the 19-year-old cousin of pound-for-pound champion Shakur Stevenson, who was ringside watching. Moses credited Stevenson as an inspiration. “I give him so much credit in the world. That’s my big brother, I watch him do everything in his big fights, I watch every move,” said Moses. Moses says he hopes to be back on the Hitchens card in June. “I’m one of the best prospects in boxing, and I can’t wait to keep proving it.”
Arturo Cardenas faced a tough Edgar Joe Cortes, but eventually wore him down and stopped him in the final round. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Arturo Cardenas of Mexico (16-0-1, 9 KOs) needed all eight rounds in his WBC Continental Americas super-bantamweight fight to stop Edgar Cortes of Millville, NJ (9-8-1, 1 KO). Cortes put up a good fight considering his record, but in the end Cardenas had too much firepower, scoring two knockdowns before the stoppage in the last half of the final round.
Francisco Rodriguez stopped Naheem Parker with ese in their lightweight fight. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Francisco Rodriguez of Atlantic City (7-0, 7 KOs) maintained his perfect record with a third-round TKO win over Naheem Parker of Camden (5-2, 2 KOs).
Tahmir Smalls seized his opportunity for a quick knockout win over Earl Bascome. Photo: Mark Robinson, Matchroom Boxing
Welterweight Tahmir Smalls of Philadelphia (14-0, 10 KOs) blasted out Earl Bascome of Washington, DC (13-2, 2 KOs), barely one minute into the first round after landing two hard left hooks. He said he didn’t intend to come out so hard, but seized the opportunity when he landed the first hard punch.
