By DAVID WEINBERG

It looks like the boxing drought at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall’s main arena may finally be ending.

According to Ringmagazine.com, negotiations are being finalized for a welterweight unification fight between IBF champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis (33-0, 29 KOs) and WBA king Eimantas Stanionis (15-0, 9 KOs) in Atlantic City on April 12.

If it happens, the bout would be the first boxing event held Boardwalk Hall’s main arena in over a decade.  The last fight there occurred on Nov. 8, 2014, when Sergey Kovalev earned a 12-roud, unanimous decision over Bernard Hopkins in a light-heavyweight unification fight.

Boardwalk Hall can seat around 12,000 for boxing and it would not be surprising to see every seat filled.  Ennis, a Philadelphia native, has a huge fan base that would have no problem making the 50-mile trek on the Atlantic City Expressway to the boardwalk.

Over 14,000 fans watched him gain a fifth-round TKO over David Avanyesan at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia last July 13 and another 11,000 saw him register a 12-round, unanimous decision over Karen Chukhadzhian last November 9.

If it happens, this would be would be Ennis’ fourth bout in Atlantic City. In his last outing there on July 8, 2023, he registered a 10th-round TKO over Roiman Villa at Boardwalk Hall’s Adrian Phillips Ballroom.

Stanionis, from Lithuania, would be making his Atlantic City debut.  In his last fight, he earned a 12-round, unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Gabriel Maestre in Las Vegas on May 4.

Ennis-Stanionis would be streamed worldwide by DAZN.

Boardwalk Hall was once home to some of boxing’s biggest events. Former heavyweight champions Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, George Foreman and Lennox Lewis all staged epic fights inside the stately arena.

It later became known as the home of the late Arturo Gatti, who had nine straight welterweight fights there from 2003-2007 in front of sellout crowds.

Former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik then became a top draw there. Busloads of fans from Pavlik’s hometown of Youngstown, Ohio saw him fight Jermain Taylor, Gary Lockett, Hopkins and Sergio Martinez there between 2007 and 2010.

Since Main Events promoter Kathy Duva brought Kovalev-Hopkins there 11 years ago, however, all the boxing events there have been held in the smaller Ballroom.

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Gallery Credit: Heather DeLuca

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