ATLANTIC CITY – Jaron “Boots” Ennis is ready to show his ruthless streak by inflicting Eimantas Stanionis’ first defeat while the Lithuanian waits to celebrate becoming a father.

The 30-year-old Stanionis’ wife Emily is due to give birth to their first child, a baby girl, before he makes his way to the ring for Saturday’s IBF and WBA welterweight title fight at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall.

His daughter’s name will be on the gloves he wears on Saturday evening, and after leaving Emily in Lithuania to prepare for his toughest fight out of the revered Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles, he hopes to fly home on Sunday and go straight to the hospital to meet his daughter with a new world title in his hands.

Stanionis is the reigning WBA champion – he and Ennis will also contest the Ring Magazine title – but for all of the mutual respect that exists between them the 27-year-old Ennis is determined to undermine his plans. They have been relaxed in each other’s company throughout fight week, including at Wednesday’s face off when they stood side by side like they weren’t on opposite sides of a potentially defining fight, but the driven Ennis is similarly hungry, and he told BoxingScene: “It’s a blessing he’s about to have a baby – he’s about to bring a child into the world – that’s a blessing for him and his family, but I’m locked in on what’s in front of me. 

“I’m trying to bring that WBA and Ring Magazine [titles] back home. I’m not worried about that. I’m focused on what’s in front of me and I’m locked in on him. That’s it.

“I heard something about [Emily’s pregnancy] leading up to the fight – the workout thing that we did. [But] I’m locked in.

“I don’t even know him, so how can I dislike him? I’m here for one thing – one – and that’s to bring home the WBA belt and that Ring Magazine belt, and be unified champ. You can’t really take nothing from no face-off, besides if a guy’s trembling or shaking a little bit. You can’t really tell from a face-off. I didn’t really care.

“He’s a good fighter though. Good fighter – definitely a good fighter. I appreciate him for taking this fight, and I’m glad he took it, and I’m excited; I’m ready.”

At Thursday’s final press conference Derek “Bozy” Ennis, the trainer and father of the IBF champion, uncharacteristically – and yet calmly – predicted a stoppage victory. Ennis Snr regardless spoke with a sense of respect for Stanionis, but moved Stanionis’ team sufficiently for them to respond that he is considerably more than the one-dimensional fighter the Ennis family have described him as.

“He’s a pressure fighter,” Ennis Jnr told BoxingScene. “He’s good at coming forward; throwing a lot of punches; trying to jab; try and get you on the ropes. That’s about it. It’s nothing we’ve never seen before. I know one thing for sure – he’s never seen nobody like me.

“I do everything. I can box; I can fight on the inside; I don’t think he fights inside better than me. Whatever he can do, I can do it; I can box; fight right-handed; left-handed; whatever you want, I can do it.

“We can’t say [if he’ll prove my toughest test]. We don’t know. We’ll see on fight night.”