Pick it: Jaron Ennis vs. Eimantas Stanionis
When to Watch: Saturday, April 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (1 a.m. BST)
How to watch: DAZN
Why to Watch: While Terence Crawford and Errol Spence were circling each other for a fight to decide the best welterweight in the world, Jaron “Boots” Ennis waited in the wings, pushed as one of the rising prospects and then as a top contender at 147lbs. And when Crawford defeated Spence to win the undisputed championship, Ennis was seen as the next in line for a shot.
Except Crawford departed the division and vacated his world titles.
Ennis was one of four secondary beltholders to be upgraded as a result, going from having the interim IBF belt to being the full titleholder. Stanionis had a similar path. His secondary WBA title is now the primary one. The other two titleholders are Mario Barrios (WBC) and Brian Norman Jnr (WBO).
The best way to decide the best welterweight is for them to face each other. That begins this Saturday at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Ennis, 33-0 (29 KOs), is a 27-year-old from up the road in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He won the interim IBF belt in January 2023 with a shutout of Karen Chukhadzhian. After that, he knocked out Roiman Villa in 10 rounds, was upgraded to the full titleholder in November 2023, and made two defenses; a stoppage of David Avanesyan after five rounds and a unanimous decision in a more competitive rematch with Chukhadzhian last November.
Stanionis, a 30-year-old from Kaunas, Lithuania, became the WBA’s secondary “regular” titleholder by virtue of his April 2022 split decision win over Radzhab Butaev. He made his first defense a little over two years later, winning a unanimous decision over Gabriel Maestre on the May 2024 undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia. Stanionis was then elevated to the primary titleholder last August.
On the undercard, former featherweight titleholder Raymond Ford will have his second fight in the junior lightweight division since losing his belt to Nick Ball at 126lbs. Ford, 16-1-1 (8 KOs), will face Thomas Mattice, 22-4-1 (7 KOs), who is coming off a controversial, cut-shortened technical decision loss to Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez in September.
Also on this show: Shakhram Giyasov, 16-0 (9 KOs), who is in line for the WBA welterweight title currently owned by Stanionis, will stay busy against Franco Maximiliano Ocampo, 17-2 (8 KOs). And Olympic bronze medalist Omari Jones, 1-0 (1 KO), who recently entered the paid ranks as a junior middleweight, will have his second pro fight against William Jackson, 13-5-2 (5 KOs).
More Fights to Watch
Thursday, April 10: Dzmitry Asanau vs. Francesco Patera (ESPN+)
The broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (11:30 p.m. BST).
Asanau is a 28-year-old who represented Belarus as a bantamweight in the 2016 Olympics, turned pro in 2022 as a lightweight and is now 9-0 (4 KOs). In November, he scored a fifth-round TKO over the 38-2 Matias Rueda.
Patera, 30-5 (11 KOs), is a 31-year-old from Belgium with recent decision losses to Keyshawn Davis in 2023 and Gary Cully last May. Patera returned in October with a unanimous decision over the 14-46-2 Christian Lopez Flores.
The undercard at the Casino de Montreal in Quebec will include Mary Spencer, 9-2 (6 KOs), defending her WBA junior middleweight title against Ogleidis Suarez, 31-5-1 (15 KOs). Several prospects will appear on the show as well in separate fights, including welterweight Christopher Guerrero, 13-0 (8 KOs); junior welterweight Jhon Orobio, 12-0 (11 KOs); and middleweight Alexandre Gaumont, 12-0 (8 KOs).
Friday, April 11: Emmanuel Etienne vs. Jose Mario Flores (BXNG TV)
The broadcast begins at 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (11:30 p.m. BST).
This show at the Melrose Ballroom in Queens, New York, is headlined by a cruiserweight bout.
Etienne, 9-1 (5 KOs), is a 35-year-old from Uniondale on Long Island. His loss came in his third pro fight, a first-round stoppage against the 5-1 Afunwa King back in November 2022.
Flores, 8-4-2 (4 KOs), is a 39-year-old from Woodbridge, Virginia. He has lost three in a row, with his last fight coming in August 2022, when Flores was dispatched in two rounds by the 3-0-1 Suray Mahmutovic.
Saturday, April 12: Jordan White vs. Jose Matias Romero (ProBox TV)
The broadcast begins at 4 p.m. Eastern Time (9 p.m. GMT).
White, 18-1 (12 KOs), is a 27-year-old junior lightweight from Washington, D.C.. He will be performing up the road in the main event at the Live! Casino and Hotel in Hanover, Maryland.
White’s only loss came very early in his career, in just his fifth pro fight, a decision loss to Adam Lopez. Since then, White has put together a 14-fight win streak, including a first-round knockout of the 17-0 Eridson Garcia in August 2023 and a unanimous decision in his last outing, against the 16-5 Jason Sanchez in August 2024.
Romero, 29-3 (10 KOs), is a 28-year-old from Argentina. His three losses all came against good foes: a pair of unanimous decisions against Isaac Cruz and Michel Rivera in 2021, and a ninth-round TKO at the hands of Robeisy Ramirez in 2022. Romero has won three straight and was last seen dispatching the 14-3-1 Federico Sebastian Pedraza in four rounds in November.
The co-feature is a heavyweight bout between Stephan Shaw, 20-2 (15 KOs), and Raphael Akpejiori, 18-1 (17 KOs).
Shaw’s two defeats were in 2023 against Efe Ajagba (UD10) and Joseph Goodall (TKO6). Shaw is on a two-fight win streak. Akpejiori’s loss was via second-round TKO to Arslanbek Makhmudov in 2023. He’s won three in a row.
