ATLANTIC CITY – Eimantas Stanionis’ trainer Marvin Somodio has revealed his concern about Jaron “Boots” Ennis’ status as the local fighter in Atlantic City on Saturday evening.
Lithuania’s Stanionis and Ennis are to contest the WBA, IBF and Ring Magazine welterweight titles at the city’s Boardwalk Hall, so close to Ennis’ home city of Philadelphia, where his promoters Matchroom have recently built him as an attraction and where he continues to live and train.
Stanionis, 30 and the WBA champion, trains out of the Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles on the US’ west coast. It, similarly, has been reported that all three ringside judges and the referee on Saturday will be American, and the promotion is that of Matchroom, not Premier Boxing Champions – the organisation to which Stanionis is tied.
That Ennis has long been recognised as one of the US’ most promising fighters may also have contributed to Somodio’s concerns, and the trainer told BoxingScene: “He’s fighting in his hometown. Hopefully the judges and the officials are gonna be fair.
“It’s not the first time. I’ve been in boxing for more than a decade. If you think too much about it then you can’t move on. We just have to do our best, and it is what it is. If they see it the other way, then what can we do?
“We have cameras; we have TV. We don’t like excuses; we don’t want to explain to people what happened. They’ll see. If we win, we win. If we lose, we lose.”
Somodio and others around the relaxed Stanionis have objected to suggestions from the 27-year-old Ennis and his team that he is a “one-dimensional” fighter, but the trainer resisted the temptation to question Ennis’ abilities when he described him as the “best” Stanionis will have fought.
“We never fought a world champion – maybe former world champions – so this is the best, and the toughest, fight we’re going to face, because Boots is number-one welterweight,” he said. “That’s what they’re saying.
“The name, he is. But on Saturday night we’ll find out who the number one is.
“He’s a very good boxer; very good counter-puncher, and he has power. He’s a smart guy.
“[But] this is going to be the first time he’s facing someone like Stanionis, so we’ll find out on fight night. Most of the guys, if not all, most of them [who fight Ennis] are not trying to win. Those guys stepped in, they feel the power, then they give up. My guy, you cut his head off, then he’ll still fight.
“People are saying he’s a one-dimensional fighter. People are saying that. Look – that’s the way he fights, and he always gets it done. Other fighters do the same – one-dimensional, but they cannot win. There’s no adjustment. Eimantas, you see him – one-dimensional, but you see the adjustment every fight. You see his style – he can speed up.
“Before he steps in you see what he’s going to do. He’s not just going there and getting beat up. He gets in the pocket very quickly and he does his thing.
“[This time you will see] different kinds of combinations, that suits the movement of ‘Boots’ Ennis.”
Stanionis hopes to secure victory, board a flight back to Lithuania on Sunday, and when he lands on Monday go directly to hospital to meet the baby daughter who is due to be born before he makes his way to the ring on Saturday and whose name will appear on his gloves.
“Not really,” Somodio replied when asked if he was concerned about that proving a distraction. “I know, Eimantas is a very smart guy. People think he’s just simple – he doesn’t say anything – but he’s very, very smart. He accepts the fact that in boxing anything can happen.
“He knows that his wife’s taking care of the baby, and he’ll take care of his job. At the end of the day, boxing is number one, before the family – and now [his wife] Emily understands that this is for the family. What he’s doing right now is for the future of his family.
“There’s always something. Not just giving birth. There’s always something. At the end of the day we gotta do what we have to do.
“Like he said – all gas, no brakes.”