Mateo’s Hoop Diary: What’s next for the Miami Heat?

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Considering how much LeBron James doesn’t like Boston, it’s a surprise he chose Philadelphia, even if he’s not going to live there. Never forget when comedian Bill Burr joked how they honored Rocky Balboa, a fictional boxer before Joe Frazier, who was the first to defeat Muhammad Ali. Time will tell how much mercenary LeBron will be appreciated if he helps deliver a championship, but none of that would have been questioned in Miami. 

 

The Miami Heat could have used one of the best bargains in NBA history — an all-star caliber player making $4 million annually — but they will be fine.   This may stop Pat Riley from retiring at some point, like James going to Cleveland kept him in the game 12 years ago, yet ‘ol ‘Bron’s legacy play should be respected. While two dynamic guards like Tyrese Maxey and V.J. Edgecombe plus a two-way star in Jaylen Brown are excellent fits, Joel Embiid’s diminished defensive ability is not next to James.

 

As for the Heat, Erik Spoelstra is the top coach and Giannis Antetokounmpo is the best player in the Eastern Conference. They also had the best tools to hide James defensively next to the versatility of Bam Adebayo, Davion Mitchell Pella Larsson and Andrew Wiggins. 

 

Furthermore, the priority doesn’t change: capturing a top-four seed after four-straight years in the Play-In Tournament. With Giannis being the focal point, it’s expected that they secure home-court advantage, at least through round one. As things stand on paper, the East’s top teams are the New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Heat and Indiana Pacers. 

 

The four top teams each have a compelling storyline as well. In New York’s case, holding the throne is always appealing. Philadelphia hasn’t won a title since 1983, and now James will try to help a fourth team reach the mountain top. The Heat went all in. Plus the Pacers probably would’ve won the 2025 NBA championship if not for Tyrese Haliburton popping his Achilles tendon, and he’s back next season.

 

After three seasons of directionless hoops following an unlikely Finals trip led by Jimmy Butler and Adebayo, the expectations are Finals or bust in 2026-27, with a championship before their build burns out. The supporting cast is superior now and Giannis is a better player than Butler. 

 

Nonetheless, the East’s next six teams, in no order, like the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks and Toronto Raptors, are still very good, ensuring the deepest the conference has been in a long time. All these quality teams also make it necessary for the Heat’s training and medical staff to keep following up on what they were doing, as seven players logged at least 70 games last season. Only four did it in 2024-25 and just two players the year before that. 

 

Regardless of missing out on James, the Heat’s off-season still gets an A, and they’ve become a relevant team again. The honeymoon phase is going smoothly, but it needs to continue, at least through the playoffs. 

 

Marlins bullpen has gone from strength to weakness

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After a 5-3 loss to the San Diego Padres on Sunday, the Miami Marlins made franchise history with their 12th consecutive defeat.

The Marlins quickly went from firmly in the playoff picture to three games out, with five teams — including San Diego — to chase.

The Los Angeles Dodgers suffered an 11-game slide before finishing the 2017 season in the World Series. Miami is only one win from shifting back to a playoff contender hovering over .500.

The biggest problem for the Marlins recently has been their bullpen. Miami has been outscored 24-10 after the seventh inning during their losing streak. Two of their three losses against Milwaukee were walk-offs.

The Marlins were leading 3-1 in the eighth inning until home runs from Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill highlighted a 4-run Padres rally. That’s the issue with overusing the bullpen. While every other reliever went through their innings without a run allowed, it only takes one pitcher to get ambushed by opposing bats and change the game.

It was Lake Bachar on Sunday, but it was Tyler Zuber on Friday, when he gave up a go-ahead two-run homer in a 4-2 loss.

Overall, the bullpen has put up a 5.45 ERA since July 10, which is the fifth highest in baseball.

Fairbanks is solid at home, but when he’s on the mound anywhere but loanDepot park, his ERA jumps up to over 13.00. And this is the closer commanding the most money the Marlins ever spent on a relief pitcher in franchise history.

An argument can be made Fairbanks should’ve been on the mound in the eighth against San Diego’s heavy hitters instead of Bachar. Marlins manager Clayton McCullough indicated after the game he will continue to send out a variety of relievers in high-leverage situations, saying, “who you see pitch in the eighth inning one day might pitch in the sixth inning.”

“I’ve been using Pete in the ninth inning,” McCullough said. “Right now, [going to] continue to do that, and again, like Lake or whoever else we have down there, feel terrific about that. When you talk about [matching up with] parts of the order, but OK, if you get through the eighth, like someone’s going to throw the ninth, too. I think I just have to — and will — remain very confident in the group we have, and you know what? Right now, we’re just not getting it done.”

The Marlins’ bullpen hasn’t been the same since Tyler Phillips went from being their most reliable reliever to a solid starting pitcher. The unit is also suffering injuries in the form of Andrew Nardi and Anthony Bender. They almost lost reliever Michael Petersen (2.84 ERA) too. He left Sunday’s game with a right forearm contusion after being struck by a batted ball, but fortunately the X-rays were negative.

The Marlins will send Phillips (2-5, 3.52 ERA) on the mound against the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.

LeBron James’ best fit is in Miami with the Heat

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There’s one big domino left to fall in free agency and it could potentially have a huge impact on next season: LeBron James, who will be going into year 24. 

 

The Miami Heat remain his top fit, giving him the highest odds to claim a fifth NBA championship. They have the best player in the conference, one of the top coaches in the game, who he won two consecutive titles with and excellent defenders, creating the infrastructure to ensure he isn’t wasted during the regular season.

 

James would give them playmaking, which is what the team mostly needs. He would presumably be a starter there, but think of how much of a mismatch it would be if he was feasting against second stringers.  Keep in mind that the best five don’t always start, as Boston Celtics teams with John Havlicek and later Kevin McHale proved, and more recently, the Golden State Warriors with Andre Iguodala.

 

For now, many Heat fans are like Telemachus, praying for his father to come home but it’s ’Bron, after 12 years. There’s always been unfinished business and now is the right time for a reunion.

 

Forget Cleveland. The main guys there haven’t won anything at this level, and playing with James Harden, who will presumably return to Cleveland, sounds like a disaster waiting to happen since ge always goes missing in important playoff games, and Evan Mobley still has some growing up to do on the court.

 

Philly would be a legacy play since they have only won championships in 1955, 1967 and 1983. The last time they won, back-to-back MVPs Moses Malone and Julius Erving played there, and they also haven’t been to the Finals since 2001. Making them legitimate again would be enormous for his legacy, but it would be too hard to do, considering how Joel Embiid can only play one defensive scheme (drop coverage) and James needs his big man to play closer to the level of the screen. 

 

Golden State is a terrible idea because Jimmy Butler is coming back from a torn ACL and Stephen Curry is slowing down, so James would be working too hard before April. Veterans are needed to win, but hoops is still a relatively young person’s game, so bringing in James is desperation to keep the Curry era going. 

 

His super agent, Rich Paul, says he won’t be rushed, and James is milking every second of the attention he’s getting. This even comes at the expense of the league because Adam Silver wants to know where he’s going before wrapping up the national TV order for next season. Amusingly, James still holds that much influences, and hopefully, he’ll decide in the next couple of days instead of making the public wait a fortnight.



Conor Benn says he’s “more Mexican” than Ryan Garcia ahead of their championship fight in September

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Another great fight is on the horizon with Ryan Garcia defending his WBC welterweight championship against Conor Benn. The great Timothy Bradley said as a guest on Inside the Ring that any match in boxing can be made, and he’s right — it’s about how badly the fighters want it. 

 

Garcia’s title defense will be at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Sept. 12. Both guys have questionable reputations since failing two drug tests four years ago (Benn) and two over two years (Garcia). They still need redemption so observers don’t impeach the credibility of their other wins.

 

Garcia is a highly talented, quick and powerful pugilist. In his last five fights, he has won two, lost twice against Gervonta Davis and Rolly Romero, and had one no contest versus Devin Haney. Benn is a marauder who has won four of his last five, and was defeated by Chris Eubank Jr. in the first encounter in April 2025 before beating him in the rematch nearly seven months later. 

 

The initial press conference for Garcia- Benn was on Saturday and they didn’t want to wait eight weeks, having to be held back on the stage after hurling insults. For now, it’s possible that Benn has the mental edge because he’s touching on a delicate matter: Garcia being a Latino who can’t speak Spanish — while Benn can. 

 

The insults in Spanish, from the Brit, were vicious and loud, which included that Garcia has a smaller pair and the harsh, untrue claim that the champ is less of a Mexican than him. Then the champ awkwardly kept going on in English. Of course, many Latinos will be on Garcia’s side, but this will be the lasting image for many older ones who don’t have respect for members of their community unable to understand them. 

 

Part of the Latino experience growing up is many older people wanting to speak with you in the native tongue. The look of disappointment on them when they can’t speak to a youngster because the latter wasn’t taught how is indelible. 

 

Think of how Julio César Chávez’s implying Oscar De La Hoya wasn’t a real Mexican, when the latter spoke Spanish, was hurtful 31 years ago. No doubt, it motivated De La Hoya to wipe out Chávez twice, yet it remains to be seen if Garcia is as mentally strong as De La Hoya, his co-promoter, was. 

 

The last time Garcia fought, he took Mario Barrios’ title on Feb. 21, and it was a shutout. In the past, he has been known for his left hook being the kill shot, but his hard right was the best it ever looked and it was a comparable weapon that even dropped Barrios a minute into round one. 

 

The latest version of Garcia wasn’t just clobbering him from all angles, but he arrived in excellent shape and his gas tank never went low, which was different from when he fought in spurts against Haney. The fight against Haney was originally ruled a win for Garcia on April 20, 2024, but he popped dirty for PEDs. 

 

Benn’s last outing was not sharp, failing to take out a banged up Regis Prograis on April 11. Some might speculate that he didn’t have the same motivation for Prograis as he did for Eubank, a sworn enemy, because it wasn’t the same level of opponent, but if that’s true, they wouldn’t say good things about his professionalism, even if many others have done this, too.  

 

Yet, judging by the hostility between him and Garcia, one would wager that the version of Benn going into this fight is more similar to the one that saw Eubank. If there’s one thing he does like his father, Nigel Benn, the two-weight world champ, it’s exhibit his ferocity. On top of that, the younger Benn, who is coming back down to welterweight after fighting last at middleweight and at a 150-pound catchweight, is so tough that he chews on rocks.

 

Additionally, one potential motivating factor for the challenger is that he is a black man, and Garcia feigned accountability for his racist trash by citing substance abuse problems two years ago. His parents said it was a mental health concern, and Garcia later checked into rehab. Still, this will be his first time stepping into the ring with a black man since.

 

Benn’s job is now exponentially harder, since he’ll be trying to evade left hooks and a crushing right that Barrios couldn’t escape. He won’t be the favorite, but if he can get out of the way with his upper body movement from the worst of it, to make Garcia back up, then things could get interesting. 

 

Garcia last showed against Barrios that he can land at will as if he were in target practice if someone is going to chase him without cutting off the ring. Still, as would be true against many fighters, getting him to go backward is preferable to being walked down. 

 

A few months ago, Garcia- Benn may not have been appealing, but the tension that’s risen to the surface has made this a must-watch fade. Benn has never been the champion, and he finally got his chance to seize the crown, and Garcia is out to further prove his talent plus skills match his popularity.

 

Tim Tszyu and Errol Spence Jr. need each other to continue the next chapter of their careers

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Tim Tszyu and Errol Spence Jr. are on a quest for a boxing resurrection and their long-awaited encounter is on July 25 in Sydney. They’ll be fighting at middleweight (catchweight at 158 pounds) and the former is the only one with experience in the division. 

 

Tszyu, the Sydney native, retired on his stool against Sebastian Fundora after seven rounds of their second fight on July 19, 2025, and has gone on to win two 10-round contests by unanimous decision versus lower-level competition. His trainer in his last two has been Pedro Diaz, and it had previously been Igor Goloubev before him. This time against Spence, it’s Jeff Fenech..

 

Defense has never been Tszyu’s strong suit and one of his habits has been admiring his work without getting out of the way. Even with how he lost to Fundora, only a fool would question his heart, yet his body is another story. 

 

Tszyu fought Fundora the first time in March 2024, with his WBO super welterweight belt on the line, and the vacant WBC title was up for grabs. He was looking sharp through two rounds against the man eight-and-a-half inches taller than him, yet an accidental elbow opened a gash over his hairline that leaked crimson the rest of the fight. Tszyu still left Fundora’s nose gushing, which made it one of the goriest fades one will ever see but lost on the cards and probably a piece of himself, too. 

 

He instantly stepped into a tough fight against Bakhram Murtazaliev nearly seven months later and was wiped out in three rounds. He’s 3-1 since. 

 

Spence has not fought since Terence Crawford stopped him in nine rounds for the undisputed welterweight titles in late July 2023. Before that night, he held the IBF, WBC and WBA straps and was trained by Derrick James. He’s now working with Ronnie Shields, yet it’s unclear how much of his heart is still in the game, despite vowing to show “a better, more improved” version of himself. 

 

At the presser on May 2, Spence said the day came when he woke up and wanted to come back, and that he wanted Tszyu because he doesn’t take tune-up fights. Tszyu countered that it isn’t recommended to go straight into the firing line. 

 

When speaking about the camp for the Crawford fight in an interview with former super middleweight and light heavyweight champion, Andre Ward, Spence said that he didn’t have quality sparring partners and was mainly working on the pads with James plus got zero time with southpaws. James’ side of the story is that Spence’s father ordered no more sparring after his son was hurt, which James said he didn’t see when it happened. 

 

Enough has come out from James and Spence to know they had a rinky-dink camp for the biggest night of their lives. Still, it was Spence’s responsibility to say something if a problem occurred and him not doing so perhaps indicated that the purse overshadowed legacy. It’s hardly a knock on a fighter to say they battled for the loot, but Spence’s legacy was dented by how he looked against Crawford, which had some to do with his preparation. 

 

Spence would have still lost him if he had a perfect camp, but who knows if he would have caught a ferocious battering or maybe been the one to stop Crawford’s streak of knockouts with a decision on the cards. Keep in mind that he was Crawford’s last KO. 

 

More questions surrounding Spence are how much punch resistance is left and how much ring rust should be expected? Tszyu is not a natural middleweight, yet his artillery is highly threatening to a former welterweight (147 pounds). Sparring with headgear and bigger gloves can only keep a fighter so sharp.  

 

Tszyu said it would be a “cracking fight,” and Spence said he’s going to deliver the upset. Both of them need each other to climb out of purgatory.



Jaron “Boots” Ennis shows more respect to Xander Zayas

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The shockwaves of Jaron “Boots’ Ennis’ victory over Xander Zayas to become unified, super welterweight champion, are still being felt across the boxing world. Boots is a man in high demand for interviews and for opponents looking to get a shot at a title with a big payday.

 

He spoke on The Ariel Helwani Show and refused to say Zayas quit. Instead, he saw it as him beating the fight out of Zayas, his highest-rated opponent who has the same reach (74 inches). Previously, three of Ennis’ top wins came against Sergey Lipinets, Eimantas Stanionis and David Avanesyan — fighters with a seven, six and five-inch reach disadvantage. His speed against Zayas was the equalizer as he evaded most of his big shots, save for the third round, which was a glorious firefight. 

 

In the interview, Helwani speculated that comments about Zayas quitting were about not wanting to give Ennis credit. He may be right, and Ennis said that it’s normal for fighters to look at the corner after a knockdown for instructions, which it appears is what Zayas did in round seven before the match was called off. 

 

The new unified champ doesn’t think he’ll get credit until he’s retired, but hopefully, he’s wrong about that. He might be Terence Crawford’s real successor, and it would be a shame if he was just a heralded name in the boxing world until the end of his career in which he goes mainstream, like Crawford did.

 

Just imagine how much more weight Crawford’s name would carry if his prime was in the ‘70s and ‘80s. And unfortunately, for Ennis, it’s harder for a top-level guy to distinguish himself if the best aren’t always fighting each other. This era isn’t close to past generations, but maybe some pugilists out there will dare to be great like Zayas and Ennis did.  

 

Before the big fight at Barclays Center, Ennis didn’t have the favorable side of the purse split, but now with two of the four belts at the division, he calls the shots(WBA and WBO). The other champs are Sebastian Fundora (WBC) and Josh Kelly (IBF), yet, Vergil Ortiz, who he was supposed to fight before Zayas, is the interim champ for the WBC. The fight with Ennis and Ortiz was never made because of an internal business mess with Ortiz and his representatives, which ended up in court. 

 

While Ortiz has been on the sidelines, his reputation has stayed neutral after wiping out Erickson Lubin in two rounds on Nov. 8, while Ennis’ has sky-rocketed to the most exciting boxer in the sport.  There’s a good clash with either of the three guys against him, but the best one is arguable between Ortiz and Fundora.

 

Ortiz is the hardest hitter of the three, and one wonders how Ennis would react to his punches if it turned into a brawl like round three against Zayas. Yet, maybe Ennis is skilled enough to keep it surgical off the back foot until he wounds him.

 

Fundora is a wicked puzzle, standing at 6’ 5, and with a six-inch reach advantage over Enis. Fundora has been less of a brawler as of late, and if he attacks, loading up on his jab, it’s a nightmarish fight for anyone because of the mismatch. The only way to beat Towering Inferno is by getting inside on him and landing something cruel, like Brian Mendoza did.

 

At his post-fight presser in Brooklyn in the early morning hours of June 28, Ennis was asked about fighting Fundora. He said, “Bring ‘em all,” regarding all the names at 154 pounds. If that doesn’t happen, then the public loses.



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The trade is official and now Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis are members of the Miami Heat

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Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis are a part of the Miami Heat and now the trade is official. Giannis will ear #7 in Miami, per Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press, and will start his 14th season in October. Portis will be starting his 12th.

 

After Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Antetokounmpo is the greatest Buck in team history His goodbye post was clips of his time in Milwaukee with a voiceover of him talking about the team and people of the city. In it, he said he hoped he represented the city the best he could. 

 

It was a classy gesture after the drama-filled season in which relationships soured. He only played in 36 games, and logged the second-lowest minutes of his career, but he is arriving in Miami a better player than Shaquille O’Neal was when he got there in 2004.

 

In Miami, Antetokounmpo will play for the best coach he’s ever had in Erik Spoelstra, and Bam Adebayo is the best defender he’s been with aside from Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez.

 

Heat president Pat Riley said through a team post, “The announcement of today’s trade for Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis Jr. is one of the great trades in HEAT history. In my opinion, Giannis is one of the top five players in the league and Bobby is one of the best power forwards. The difficult part is trading Tyler, Kasparas, Jaime and Kel’el who have given so much to this organization, we wish them nothing but the best. I also want to thank the Arison’s for their continued pursuit towards winning a championship and we feel this gives us a better opportunity moving forward. I want to welcome Giannis and Bobby to the Miami HEAT family.”

 

Media day in Miami should be packed now that the national brigade has a reason to come back, and perhaps it will be close to the level the Big Three got.  They won’t be as good, but they should win between 49 and 53 games this season and secure a top-three seed, snapping their streak of four Play-In Tournament appearances. 

 

The team still needs some extra playmakers and shooting around Antetokounmpo, but they should be fine in the short term without it. The defense and rebounding will make up for it. 

 

As for the package traded for Antetokounmpo and Portis, there time in Miami mattered. Kasparas Jakučionis, Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Kel’el Ware all have promising futures and are now highly motivated after being shipped off. The best hasn’t of Tyler Herro hasn’t been seen, either.

 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Norman Powell is signing with the Bulls, and how it affects the Heat

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Norman Powell had a good season with the Miami Heat, blossoming as a first-time All-Star, and now he is officially signing with the Chicago Bulls on a two-year, $45 million deal, per ESPN. The Bulls have not made the playoffs since 2021-22, but perhaps can be a Play-In team in 2026-27. Nonetheless, they should be fun to watch.

 

There was interest in keeping Powell even before the team traded for Giannis Antetokounmpo, but he made the financially wise choice of cashing out. At age 33, he may not have more opportunities to do that.

 

For a good chunk of the first half of 2025-26, Powell was the team’s best player, and working in the fastest offense in the league played to his strengths. He’s a good shooter off the catch and effective on catch-and-go moves, making him a fine piece in any system at either speed.

 

 His impact lessened towards the end of the season, as he was always dealing with something, but he valiantly pushed through it, even with it being foolish sometimes. His time in Miami mattered because he was a weapon and was the source of offense for a while. He had six games logging at least 30 points and 17 nights with a minimum of four trifectas.

 

Powell, who is already a champion (2019), will be a valuable addition to a locker room with talented youngsters. In Miami, he also gave financial advice to Kel’el Ware, and he’ll probably do the same for others in Chicago. 

 

For the Heat, this means that Pelle Larsson is the new likely starter next Davion Mitchell, Andrew Wiggins, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Bam Adebayo. Larsson will need to be a threat to hit open 3-pointers so the team can punish opponents when overloading the lane, and needs to keep working on creating his own shot. Notably, in 2025-26, 14.2 percent less of his two-pointers were assisted, and he nearly tripled his assist average (3.4). It would be ideal if that trend continues because the team is short on playmakers outside of Antetokounmpo, Mitchell and Dru Smith.

 

Tim Hardaway Jr., who the Heat just signed and was third in Sixth Man of the Year voting last season, could be an option to start, but he is a streaky 3-point shooter and an inferior defender to Larsson.  It’s best for the team to have more options in the starting lineup to contain the point-of-attack, and Larsson fits that bill, more so than Powell, too.

 

Still, it’s too much to expect of Larsson to replace Powell’s production by himself. It will have to be done by committee.

 



Mets Continue Trend of Signing Former Marlins

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Once again, the Miami Marlins trash becomes the New York Mets’ treasure.

Shortly after being released by the Marlins, the Mets have agreed to a minor league deal with infielder Christopher Morel, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. He will head to Triple-A Syracuse in hopes of finding his swing.

Morel reportedly has multiple opt-out dates available on the new contract, the first of which is July 15, reports ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. Such opt-outs are common on minor league deals for veteran players of this nature.

Morel, who recently turned 27, slashed .162/.219/.206 line with a 38.4% strikeout rate during his short time with the Marlins, who signed him to a $2 million contract over the offseason.

The Mets continue the trend of signing former Marlins players shortly after being let go by the team. The Mets recently brought in Austin Slater, who went 5-for-20 in nine games before moving onto the Tampa Bay Rays for seven more games.

The Mets are currently relying on former Marlins first baseman Eric Wagaman, who spent his first full season with the Fightin’ Fish last year. Wagaman is currently slashing .192/.276/.423 (5-for-26) with two home runs and four RBI in 17 games with the Mets, who sit last in the National League East.

Wagaman hit nine home runs with 53 RBI and a .250/.296./378 slash line in 140 games for the Marlins last year, including a .640 OPS through the first half. Had Morel produced such stats, he would still be with the Marlins.

The Marlins are still looking for a full time first baseman after Morel and Connor Norby (4 HR, 16 RBI, .638 OPS) didn’t live up to expectations. The current solution may be in Kyle Stowers, who moved from outfield to first base and is putting up an .857 OPS with five home runs and 21 RBI through the month of June.

With a win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday, the Marlins will finish the month of June with a MLB-high 20 wins, which would set a franchise record.

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

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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.