ATLANTIC CITY, New Jersey – Eimantas Stanionis dismissed the theory he only wanted to fight Jaron Ennis after watching Ennis’ unremarkable performance in his rematch with Karen Chukhadzhian on November 9.

The unbeaten WBA welterweight champion claimed during an interview with The Ring that he has requested a fight with Ennis since they both boxed on Premier Boxing Champions cards. Ennis wasn’t a PBC-affiliated fighter, but he won on seven PBC-sponsored shows broadcast by Showtime or Showtime Pay-Per-View from September 2020 until July 2023.

The 27-year-old Ennis has since signed with Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing, which was what it apparently took for promoters to finally put him and Stanionis in the ring together.

Stanionis points to his willingness to defend his WBA belt versus Vergil Ortiz Jr., Ennis’ rival, in July 2023 as evidence that he’ll fight any welterweight. That mandated championship bout was scrapped two days before it was scheduled to take place because Ortiz was hospitalized the night before their final press conference in San Antonio.

The 30-year-old Stanionis has fought only once since Ortiz’s costly withdrawal from a fight for which the 2016 Lithuanian Olympian’s purse was supposed to be a career-high $1.75 million. Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs, 1 NC) will end an 11-month layoff when he encounters Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs, 1 NC) in a 12-round, 147-pound title unification fight Saturday night at Boardwalk Hall.

Stanionis’ overall inactivity isn’t the only reason he jumped at the opportunity to earn the seven-figure payday he never received 21 months ago. He also wants to test himself against an elite-level boxer while he remains in his physical prime.

Ennis, listed as a 6-1 favorite by DraftKings, and Stanionis will fight for Ennis’ IBF, Stanionis’ WBA and the vacant Ring welterweight titles. The Ring lists Ennis as its No. 1 contender in their division and Stanionis at No. 2.

Four-division champion Terence Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) gave up The Ring’s welterweight title last year when he moved up seven pounds to compete in the junior middleweight division.

“The 80s, 90s was the best era,” Stanionis told The Ring. “Everybody fought each other. Nobody cared about their 0. So, that’s the thing with Floyd [Mayweather] – he’s a great fighter. He never lost, so fighters are scared to fight each other and lose. But what’s going to happen? You lose, OK, you lost to a better man. You keep going and that’s it.”

Ennis and his father/trainer, Derek “Bozy” Ennis, predicted that the multidimensional, flashy Philadelphia native will knock out the aggressive, durable Stanionis in a main event DAZN will stream live worldwide (8 p.m. ET). Stanionis informed them that he has never been knocked down, not even in a sparring session, let alone knocked out in an amateur or professional fight.

“I’m going to give all of my heart,” Stanionis said. “This fight is not for the fans, not for the family, not for somebody else. It’s for me. I want to see, you know, how far I can go. I know everybody thinks he’s unbeatable, you know, so that’s what I want to do. I want to show you can achieve everything if you put all your heart into it. You know? I want to go there, shoot for the stars, and we will see.”