Xander Zayas versus Jaron “Boots” Ennis is summer 2026’s biggest fight

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The wheels for Xander Zayas versus Jaron “Boots” Ennis are set in motion, and the two are doing a fine job of hyping up the fight. Zayas’ WBA and WBO super welterweight titles are on the line in this legacy fight and it could be a bloodbath.

 

It’ll be at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on June 27th, which means that half the crowd will be Puerto Rican and the other side will see a good turnout of Philadelphia supporters. 

 

The champion is the younger man at age 23, and Ennis will turn 29 the day before the fight. Naturally, this has caused speculation from fans and media that Ennis needs the fight more, and that it’s too much too early for Zayas. Yet, legendary champion Roy Jones Jr. doesn’t believe it for Zayas “ because he’s a two-time world champion.” Jones also added that losing to another opponent before this matchup would mess up his payday against Ennis.

 

Both of them have slick skills yet they take risks that leave themselves open like all exciting fighters, and neither has seen this level of quality, athletic opponent. Zayas has improved significantly after each contest, but eating a vicious overhand right like he did in round four against Slawa Sloper three fights ago would put him in grave danger. And if Ennis is defensively sloppy like he was in the second Karen Chukhadzhian clash he won fairly easily, then he’ll be in Davy Jones‘ locker.

 

Keep in mind that Zayas doesn’t have shotgun-blast power, but he breaks down opponents with volume, and the challenger is a violent finishing southpaw with rare switch-hitting ability.  

 

Ennis denies looking past Zayas, but it’s hard to feel differently as he said to Bryan Fonseca of The Mandatory that is just another fight for him and that every one that people speculate will be his toughest is his easiest. On another occasion, he said that Zayas took the fight for the money and that he has a large head he can’t miss.

 

Disagreements over not having a 55-45 split were revealed at the press conference on April 8 as both fighters jawed at each other, and Zayas pointed out that he is the champion, who didn’t need to take this match, and is giving Ennis an opportunity.   

 

When they faced off at the presser, Ennis rubbed the belts and was told that’s as close as he’d get to them. If he takes them, it be a significant achievement on his résumé and would elevate him closer towards the highest echelon of the sport.

 

There’s a surplus of great Puerto Rican champions which include Wilfredo Benítez, Félix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto. A win against Ennis would put Zayas on the path to becoming their next great one. 



Caroline Dubois schools Terri Harper, unifying lightweight titles

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Caroline Dubois didn’t deliver on her promise to knock out Terri Harper, but she outclassed her and took her WBO belt, unifying the lightweight division with the WBC strap.

 

Not much landed for either in the first round, despite Dubois trying to get on the inside of Harper’s lead foot. Dubois then raised the intensity, connecting on multiple jabs and a body shot with a straight left hand.

 

Her focus was breaking her down with body strikes and the pressure neutralized Harper’s attack. Dubois managed to slip out of big ones, and later dropped her with a head shot on the tail end of a  2-1 and 1-2 combinations.

 

The bell rang quickly after, giving Harper a reprieve, but she entered the seventh round not willing to engage and paid for the shots she landed. There was an accidental head clash in the next interval that drew blood from Harper’s left eyebrow, and she got battered heading into the closing rounds.

 

Yet the continuous punishment finally forced her to let her hands go, turning the ninth and 10th rounds into a brawl with both ladies landing heartless punches up and downstairs.  Harper dished seven more power punches between those two rounds, per CompuBox.

 

Dubois won unanimously on the cards 98-91, 97-92, 98-91. She said in her post-fight interview that, “I’m an entertainer and this is what I do,” and that she only wants big fights in the future, with two more coming in 2026. 

 

The rest of Most Valuable Promotions’ fight card included Ellie Scotney defeating Mayelli Flores to become England’s youngest undisputed champion (junior flyweight); Chantelle Cameron won the vacant WBO junior middleweight belt over Michaela Kotaskova; Irma Garcia retained her IBF junior bantamweight title against Emma Dolan.

 

On top of that, Mikaela Mayer, the WBO’s welterweight champ who is also a unified titlist at 154 pounds (WBA + WBC) wants to be undisputed. She was working as one of the analysts on the broadcast, and she faced off with Cameron in the ring, setting up a fight for later this year. Mayer also had the junior middleweight belt before vacating it in January.



Sebastian Fundora stops Keith Thurman in round six, retaining his WBC junior middleweight title

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Sebastian Fundora’s advantages in height (nine inches) and reach (11 inches) over Keith Thurman were too difficult a code to crack. The latter couldn’t get close enough, and referee Thomas Tyler stopped it before his face turned from bruised and cut to disfigured.

 

The challenger ate a straight left hand in the opening 10 seconds of the fight and that was a microcosm of how it would go. All he could do was try to tire out Fundora by moving around him, and then he suffered another left-handed laser that buckled his knees, almost causing a knockdown in round two.

 

The champion opened up his attack as the fight continued and his left uppercut landed to the head and body. Thurman subsequently connected on a combination up and downstairs to start the fifth round, but his slender and taller opponent remained disciplined, frustrating him further with pressure. 

 

According to CompuBox, Fundora landed 36 of 80 punches in round five, which is the most Thurman has been tagged in a three-minute burst in his career. A ringside doctor quickly inspected him at the start of the sixth and allowed the fight to continue, but he had no answers anyway. 

 

A right hook opened a cut on his left cheek, and then Taylor stepped in between them after getting sick of watching one man retreat while getting stung with cleaving shots from both sides. Thurman protested the stoppage, and left the ring while Fundora was giving a post-fight interview, but made sure to embrace him first. The former later said at the press conference not to hire Taylor for main events again. “He just jumped in like a white rabbit, man.” The only other loss Thurman had on his résumé was a split decision to Manny Pacquiao in July of 2019. 

 

Fundora said that he had watched tape on Thurman, and knew the overhand left would be a weapon. Additionally, when asked about unifying, he said, “I’m the best. They all have to come to me.”

 

The other champions at 154 pounds are Xander Zayas (WBO, WBA) and Josh Kelly (IBF).

 

Former undisputed junior middleweight champ Jermell Charlo attended the fight and after, said in an interview that he wanted to fight Fundora. 

 

Stock rises for junior middleweight contender

 

Yoenis Tellez had to take minutes of rest in the third round because of a nasty head butt that broke his nose, leaking a lake of blood on the canvas. He said the pain was a 10 out of 10, but that he is a warrior, and proceeded to take control with his jab, combinations and power shots. 

 

He couldn’t breathe through his nose, yet he recovered his confidence with the big straight right hands in the fourth round. 

 

Brian Mendoza was the bigger man, and he kept many rounds close, yet Tellez was more active and effective with his aggression. The former was also cut next to the left eye by a head clash, affecting his vision in round eight. 

 

The judges scored the co-main event 98-92, 97-93 and 97-93 after 10 rounds. 

 

The first thing Tellez did in the post-fight interview was give his support to his country (Cuba), which is facing tough times because of an oil blockade, and that has worsened the energy problems, and he thanked his team. He was asked how he survived the head butt and credited his team for that, too.