Beatdown In Brooklyn: Boots Ennis Stops Zayas in Seven

And the new: Jaron Ennis is the WBO and WBA World Super Welterweight champion after defeated Xander Zayas. Photo: Matchroom Boxing
And the new: Jaron "Boots" Ennis is the WBO and WBA World Super Welterweight champion after defeated Xander Zayas. Photo: Matchroom Boxing
by Gayle Falkenthal, Boxing Editor

What to Know

  • The super welterweight showdown between unified champion Xander Zayas and challenger Jaron “Boots” Ennis delivered an all-action fight, with Ennis winning by R7 TKO.
  • The Zayas corner asked that the fight be stopped at 1:17 of round seven after three knockdowns.
  • Ennis is now the WBO and WBA World Super Welterweight champion in his second division.

Oddsmakers made former world champion and challenger Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis the wide favorite against WBO and WBA World Super Welterweight champion Xander Zayas. They weren’t wrong. But what they couldn’t predict was the thrilling progression of the fight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn until it came to an end when the Zayas corner team asked the fight be stopped in the seventh round.

“I was enjoying myself, I was having fun, putting on a show for the fans, and I got the job done. I appreciate Xander Zayas for taking this, because he didn’t have to,” said Ennis. “Great young champion, he’ll be a champion again.”

Boots Ennis: Too Fast, Too Furious

Ennis of Philadelphia (35-1, 31 KOs) had too much speed and firepower for Zayas (23-1, 13 KOs). The 23-year-old Puerto Rican put his hand on the hot boxing stove called Boots Ennis and got burned. “My team was telling me speed, speed, speed. It’s the shot you don’t see coming, not the power shot,” explained Ennis of their approach.

Zayas inexplicably decided to come right at Ennis and make it a straight-up fight, not a boxing match. The stick-and-move Zayas was nowhere to be seen.

It made for a wildly entertaining action fight, but it put Zayas in position to take far too much punishment without the ability to keep Ennis off him. He suffered the first knockdown in round one. It seemed the fight would be over quickly. To his credit, Zayas got through the first and the second round, taking a serious beating.

By the third round, Zayas had recovered as only a 23-year-old can, rallying to land his own power shots in a much more competitive third round. Zayas had his best round of the fight in the fourth, going to the body of Ennis and landing several hooks and uppercuts with Ennis visibly hurt and forced to hold at several points.

Asked whether he was hurt, Ennis said, “That was just me being lazy a little bit on the inside. I don’t even worry about it. I knew I was in control from round one.”

Trainer Bozy Ennis said that when his son fights, he doesn’t worry about anything. “He loves to fight, man … but get him out of there.

Xander Zayas made a strategic mistake getting into a firefight with Boots Ennis. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Matchroom Boxing
Xander Zayas mad ea strategic mistake getting into a firefight with Boots Ennis. Photo: Cris Esqueda, Matchroom Boxing
Fight

Zayas Wills Himself Forward Until Corner Steps In

Ennis settled back down and forced Zayas into a sink-or-swim situation. In the fifth round, Ennis put Zayas on the canvas a second time. Zayas watched referee Harvey Dock administer the count and barely got to his feet in time. Sensing he could put the fight away with plenty of time left, Ennis unloaded his arsenal of punches.

Somehow, Zayas managed to make it to the bell. He spent most of the sixth round buying himself time by avoiding Ennis and doing just enough to prevent Dock from stopping the fight. But even a young, strong 23-year-old champion can’t hold up to the kind of punishment he was taking.

Harvey Dock did a tremendous job giving both fighters the maximum amount of rope possible in this championship fight because of the stakes involved. Zayas’ trainer, Javiel Centeno, conferred with his fighter and let him come out for the seventh round.

Ennis knew by this point it was only a matter of time before he could close the show. He moved in on Zayas, who was on fumes, fighting on sheer will alone. Ennis scored the third knockdown, and as Zayas listened to the count, he looked over at his corner, then smiled and dropped his head as they asked for the fight to be stopped.

Ennis said he wasn’t surprised Zayas was able to hang in as long as he did. “Nah, you know, big kid, he’s durable, you know, big guy. So, I knew he was gonna be able to take some punches.”

Ennis said he wasn’t concerned about the fight going rounds after the early knockdown. “Sometimes you got to stay composed and stay relaxed and not rush it. I didn’t want to rush it and then not get the knockout. So that’s why I just took my time and just be patient and listen to my corner.”

Boots Ennis: Here To Take Over The Division

During the post-fight news conference, Ennis confirmed his goal is to become the undisputed champion. “This is the legacy tour for me. I’m here to take over the division and become the face of boxing,” declared Ennis. Asked if he prefers a specific opponent, Ennis said, “Bring ‘em all.”

Zayas was gracious after the loss. “It was an amazing night. I showed tonight that with dreams you dream big, sometimes you come off short, but it’s part of the journey. Congratulations to Boots. He did what he needed to do, and he deserved the victory tonight.”

Zayas said he was happy with his performance, although it wasn’t what he was expecting. “I knew I had one of the best in the game in front of me, and it’s part of the business.” Zayas will now move up to the middleweight division and begin his championship quest again.

El General Orders Up a Knockout Win

Emiliano Vargas calls himself “El General.” He took command against Bryce Mills, who had been calling out Vargas for months. Careful what you wish for. Vargas, fighting Mills from the southpaw stance, found an opponent willing to come right at him.

What Mills of Syracuse, New York (22-2, 9 KOs) saw was unexpected: a southpaw opponent. Vargas of Las Vegas (18-0, 15 KOs) has fought his prior 17 fights from an orthodox stance. Against Mills, he came out southpaw and fought the entire fight that way.

It was a successful experiment with Vargas landing a sensational left hand three times against Mills before referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the fight at 1:17 of round four.

The first knockdown came on a cuffing shot with Mills off balance. It might have been more of a push than a punch. The second knockdown is the one that did the damage. Mills walked right into a hard left hook after a series of body shots.  Mills’ legs buckled and folded under him.

Mills showed a lot of heart by gamely getting to his feet. Vargas moved in with purpose, unloading shots until Gonzalez stepped in, risking taking a shot or two himself as he got between Mills and Vargas at 1:17 of round four.

“I’m just a young kid, 22 years of age, just wanting to learn. We’ve been in the gym, and we’ve been working on different things, and I told you earlier this week that you were going to see new things,” said a smiling Vargas, the 2025 Prospect of the Year.

Vargas said he knew Mills would be aggressive, and when they stepped into the ring he had a surprise for him. “I knew when I turned south, I saw it in his face. We’re continuing to learn. I just want to be great.”

Vargas landed 56 of 107 punches thrown (52%) against 18 of 106 thrown for Mills (17%).

Ben Whittaker Makes A Big Impression In U.S. Debut

British light heavyweight Ben Whittaker’s coming-out party barely lasted ten minutes, including the ringwalk. Whittaker of West Bromwich, England (12-0-1, 9 KOs) flattened Richard “Popeye” Rivera of Hartford, Connecticut (27-3, 20 KOs) with two vicious knockdowns before referee Michael Griffin saw Rivera’s future was bleak and stopped the fight 27 seconds into round two.

The first knockdown came on a looping right over the top of Rivera’s head as he was bending down. He survived the round, then walked right into a brutal left hook to the chin, dropping hard to the canvas. Uno, dos, adios.

Whittaker gave the fans a little shimmy dance and a cheeky post-fight interview, true to form. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give you what you want, man. I hit him, and he went to sleep … I did one round. It was a nice round. He probably wanted a couple more, but when you hit him like that, it’s all she wrote.”

Commentator Chris Mannix likened Whittaker to Ryan Garcia, and it’s an apt description. He has immense talent and skills, but he lives on social media and lives for the flash, which can get in the way of an athlete.

Matchroom Sport chairman Eddie Hearn now owes Whittaker a trip to jeweler Van Cleef and Arpels on him.

Opening the main card, U.S. Olympian Jahi Tucker of New York (16-1-1, 7 KOs) got a rough and tumble fight from Euri Cedeno of the Dominican Republic (14-0-1, 12 KOs) in a ten round middleweight bout for three regional titles. The fight saw the final bell and both men celebrated as if he was the winner. Tucker picked up the win by majority decision with scores of 98-92, 97-93, and 95-95.

Cedeno looked shocked at the result, but Tucker pulled it out by outworking Cedeno in the second half of the fight.

On the early undercard, super flyweight prospect Juanmita Lopez de Jesus of Puerto Rico (6-0, 3 KOs) scored an impressive first round knockout over Alberto Motos of Spain (6-3). Lopez, the son of two-division world champion Juanma Lopez, landed a left hook flush after a throwaway right. Motos turned to avoid what he thought was the right hook coming and offered a perfect target for Lopez De Jesus.