Jaron “Boots” Ennis wipes out Xander Zayas, becoming unified champion at 154 pounds

Jaron “Boot” Ennis is the new top dog at super welterweight, holding the WBA and WBO titles after dispatching Xander Zayas in seven rounds on Saturday. Barclays Center was treated with explosive action from Ben Whitaker and Emiliano Vargas in the two fights leading up the main event and the night was called off when Zayas looked at his corner following his third time knocked down. 

Zayas instantly was tagged repeatedly by the jab, and boldly came forward even with the straight left hand hitting his face multiple times. Ennis, the switch-hitting southpaw, softened him up with a right hook followed by a left uppercut to the head, then landed a four punch combo with another straight left on the tail end dropping him in round one. 

The difference was the speed, and Zayas legs didn’t come back to him until the third, in what turned into an epic brawl with him causing Ennis to step back three times and knocking his head back with a stiff straight right. They kept trading on the inside with both connecting on cruel body shots.

The levy broke when Ennis, having softened him up with bullets downstairs, dropped him a second time, with a  straight left and right uppercut to the head. Zayas ended the round getting abused, and referee Harvey Dock told him he wouldn’t let him take much more of it  between the next interval. 

It didn’t take much longer.

Another set of dual hooks, followed by unforgiving pressure backing Zayas to the ropes, put him down a third time, and Dock called it off. 

At the post-fight presser, Ennis rated Zayas as solid competition and repeated that his young foe would be champion again whether at super welterweight (154) or middleweight (160). Zayas was later taken to the hospital, per Ricardo Celis.

When asked about fighting Sebastian Fundora, the WBC super welterweight champion, Ennis said“Bring ‘em all.”

None of it was good enough for Vergil Ortiz Jr., who commented on X (formerly Twitter) that, “Yea, I’m sleeping Jaron,” and he also called Zayas a quitter. Ennis’ fight with Ortiz never happened because of an internal, legal mess involving Golden Boy Promotions (Ortiz’s promoter) Ortiz and his manager.

Quick takes:

The card should not have been pay-per-view, but it delivered for the fans. Not saying that Saul Canelo Álvarez v. Terence Crawford wasn’t a great one-sided, entertaining fight, yet Zayas v. Ennis produced extra fireworks. Fights like Saturday’s happen when someone like Zayas reaches for the stars, and boxing needs more of it from guys in their prime or approaching it. 

In the lead up to the main event, my colleague Bryan Fonseca interviewed chairman of Matchroom Sport, Eddie Hearn, and the promoter compared the upcoming result with how Floyd Mayweather outclassed Canelo. It wasn’t meant to be a comparison in fight styles, but it was a great call, and like Canelo almost 13 years ago, Zayas was one-or-two levels below. 

Going forward, the fight the public needs to see from Ennis is the long-awaited one with Ortiz, who has never been champion, yet holds the WBC interim strap. Ennis’ smooth and powerful style of boxing or brawling would make for fantastic matchup against Ortiz’s savagery.