IBF welterweight champion Jaron Ennis has his sights set on dominating the division. According to his trainer, Stephen Edwards, WBA welterweight champion Eimantas Stanionis poses the greatest challenge to Ennis’ reign. While no official talks of a matchup between the two have surfaced, Stanionis is hoping he would get a shot at Ennis soon.

During a recent interview with YSM Sports Media, Edwards was pressed to rank the ‘interim’ WBO welterweight champion Brian Norman Jr., ‘interim’ WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, and Stanionis in terms of who poses more of a threat to Ennis in the division. Edwards seems to have heavily favored Stanionis over the others.

Stephen Edwards hasn’t heard one bad thing about Eimantas Stanionis

Edwards ranked Stanionis as the biggest threat to Ennis, and when asked why he thinks Norman is not that big of a threat, Ennis’ trainer said, “Norman is a little young. I’m not saying too young but I don’t think he is as physically mature as Stanionis.” Claiming Norman Jr. is still in his early stage, Edwards suggested Norman Jr. was in a “performance slump.”

He also noted that “Boots is just further along in my opinion.” Whereas Edwards felt “Stanionis, he’s really cagy, he’s really smart.” He also seems to have run into Stanionis in an elevator, which led him to think, “he’s very physically big to be 147 pounders just talking about his muscle density. I think he’ll be able to match strength with Boots.” 

Edwards also claimed that Stanionis’ training with Ronnie Shields made him a formidable fighter, noting he has heard good things about Stanionis. “That guy got an iron chin, he’s real strong, he got pedigree—I never heard a bad story about him,” Edwards told the reporter. Ennis’ trainer really seemed to be fawning over the Lithuania boxer, but fans want something else.

Despite all of Edwards’ praise, when fans saw the interview on YouTube, they had other demands for Jaron Ennis instead of a potential fight against Stanionis. 

Fans demand Jaron Ennis move to 154 pounds

For quite a while, Ennis had claimed he would climb to 154 pounds, but when an opportunity presented itself to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr., Ennis wanted the fight to unfold at 147 pounds. Fans quickly reacted to the interview, sending a clear message to Ennis: it’s time to move up to 154.

One user refused to believe the narrative Edwards was trying to weave for Ennis and Stanionis at 147 pounds. “I’m not buying it. Boots should head to 154. The only people vouching for this is people from Philly and that Boots burner account that debates everyone who says something unfavorable to Boots,” the user argued. 

Even the next user had the same thing to say. “Go to 54. Turki can get him a title shot right away. What’s the issue? Everybody easy work right? Team Ennis is the biggest scam in boxing,” the user claimed. Interestingly, Bozy Ennis had previously claimed that Vergil Ortiz Jr. had refused to fight his son, but it was later revealed that Ortiz was never offered the fight to begin with. Ennis would later demand to stay at 147, forcing the bout to fall apart. 

Meanwhile, this user completely disagreed with Edwards. “I like Boots but Stanionis is a Beast,” the user commented. However, Stanionis lacks the professional experience of Ennis. Plus, Stanionis has been rather inactive in recent years. 

Another user didn’t think Stanionis would be much of a challenge for Ennis. “Stanionis is a we@k champion but at least it’s a unification 🙄 147 is a pathetic division right now,” the user wrote.  This seems to be the leading sentiment since Terence Crawford left the division. 

Even the next user had similar thoughts about Stanionis. “Stanionis is an overrated fighter predictable fighter, who was getting cooked by a washed-up old Thomas Dulorme. Stanionis is a come forward fighter, with no special effect,” the user wrote. Stanionis might want to clear up his name with a fight against Ennis. 

That being said, it appears despite Stephen Edwards’ efforts to hype up a fight between Jaron Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis, the fans don’t seem all that excited about it. What do you think about a potential fight between them?