WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis says his management was never contacted by Jaron 'Boots' Ennis' team when he chose to turn down an offer to move up to 154 to challenge Vergil Ortiz Jr. for his WBC interim title at the Feb. 22 card in Riyadh. .
(Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom)
Boots dodging unification?
Stanionis says it doesn't look good that IBF welterweight champion Boots (33-0, 29 KOs) opted not to fight Vergil Jr. at 154. He had heard Ennis wanted to stay at 147 and unify the division, so why did he not try to fight it in a unification?
Stanionis says he was NOT contacted about a unification fight against Ennis, and now he hears Boots could fight Teofimo Lopez next.
Stanionis asks what that says about Ennis. Philadelphia native Boots turns down Vergil Ortiz Jr. fight at 154, and yet he's not looking to make unification fights at 147 either. This fuels the beliefs that Boots' critics have about it. They see him as a risk-averse man, lacking ambition and interested only in winnable fights against Karen Chukhadzhian, David Avanesyan and Roiman Villa.
Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) says he will stay busy with his career and hopes to fight on the Gervonta Davis undercard against Lamont Roach on March 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The event will be broadcast on PBC on Main video PPV.
“I’m aiming for that and hoping for that. Then we will see,” Eimantas Stanionis told YSM Sports Media about wanting to fight on the undercard of the Gervonta Davis vs. Lamont Roach card on March 1st.
“We are here to prove who is the best. I can fight at 140, 147 or 154. It doesn't matter. Any three divisions. If I get the chance, I'll skip it. I want to be a fighter from the past, like where everyone fights both to throw months.
“I wouldn't want to be in his place because afterwards [Karen Chukhadzhian] fight, he said he could go to 154 for the right opponent. So, I think Vergil Ortiz was the right opponent.
Ennis reportedly turned down a career-high payday for the Vergil Jr. fight on February 22, making him look worse. If Boots wants to stay at 147 and fight light welterweight Teofimo Lopez instead of one of the champions, then the whole reason he turned down the Vergil Jr. fight goes up in smoke. Then it becomes obvious to the fans that he didn't have the courage to fight, for fear of losing.
Stanionis: “Ennis could have called”
“So I don’t know what happened. Eddie [Hearn] also said they could go to 154 for a big fight: Stanionis said of Ennis. “When they received the offer [for the Vergil Jr. fight]I don't know what was inside. From the outside it doesn't look good.
“Yeah, if he wants to stay at 147, I understand, but from the fence, I like it too. When he [Ennis] I didn't take the fight [with Vergil], his people could have called us. I would go for it. Nobody called us,“Stanionis said of the Boots Ennis promoter who never contacted his management to lead a unification fight.”
Hearn needs to show the fans that he's pitching the other welterweight champions to fight Boots, because it doesn't look good that Stanionis is saying he hasn't been contacted by Ennis' team about a fight. Why would he lie about that?
If he says he hasn't been contacted, it shows that Boots is not interested in welterweight and is just staying at 147 to hide from the predators in the 154 division who would quickly ruin his career in the same way that Tim Tszyu's imploded. , losing his last two fights at junior middleweight.
“If he wants to stay at 147, he’s supposed to fight other champions. I see that with Teofimo, they could fight. I don't know what's going on. If he's going to fight Teofimo, what does that tell you? It's not 147, you know? Stanionis said.
#Called #Stanionis #Slams #Ennis #Avoiding #Unification #Bout