The moment it was announced that Jaron Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis would be going at it, Juan Manuel Marquez began crossing off his calendar. The former multi-divisional champion is a busy man but he wanted to make sure he was free on the night of their welterweight unification.

Last Saturday night, Marquez immured himself in a quiet room, turned on his television set, and watched Stanionis and Ennis enter the Boardwalk Hall arena in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Before that opening bell rang, countless scenarios played in Marquez’s mind. At times, he imagined Ennis edging out a victory. There were also moments where Marquez envisioned Stanionis having his hand raised in victory.

It was practically impossible for Marquez to pick a winner but the one thing he did believe was that both men were evenly matched. Needless to say, that was far from the truth.

Ennis was on A game. He hit the Lithuanian whenever he wanted and smoothly evaded most of the shots that came in his direction. In the sixth, things went from bad to worse.

For the first time in his career, Stanionis hit the canvas. Although he did pick himself up, his corner waved the white flag at the end of the round.

Marquez, throughout it all, stood there with his hands on his head. Normally, the Hall of Famer is good at picking fights. Nevertheless, he was completely wrong about this one.

“I never imagined that Ennis would win by knockout,” said Marquez to FightHype.com. “I don’t believe it.”

That wasn’t a shot at Ennis (34-0, 30 KOs) but more of a compliment to Stanionis. You see, the now former WBA champ has always done well underneath the lights. He’s also been praised by his peers for his sparring wars. Still, it was like the 30-year-old was hit by a Mack truck.

“I think Stanionis is a good fighter,” continued Marquez. “He has power, he knows how to move around the ring.”

Ennis, who was coming off wins against David Avanesyan and Karen Chukhadzhian, has officially made a believer out of Marquez. Actually, Marquez has always thought highly of the new unified champion. However, he still wasn’t convinced that he would be levels above Stanionis.

“Ennis is a great fighter. He moves in the ring, he throws a lot of power but I never imagined that he would win by knockout.”