Ennis’ technique and hand speed overwhelmed Zayas initially, and Boots used a six-punch combination to knock down Zayas in round 1. After the initial onslaught, Zayas did a bit higher, landing some clean shots of his own and attempting to use his size to wear down Ennis in clinches. In round 3, Zayas sent the gang right into a frenzy by landing some hard shots of his own that snapped Boots’ head back. It was some real adversity for Ennis. Promoter Eddie Hearn said he was anxious for about twenty seconds within the third round, while Ennis said he was chilling.
Zayas proved why he was a worthy unified champion, attempting to stick and move and avoid the fanatic assault from Philadelphia’s Ennis. The Puerto Rican faithful were attempting to will their countryman back into the fight, but Boots was just too fast, too strong, and too technically sound for Zayas. Ennis scored his second knockdown in round 5 with a left jab followed by a right uppercut. After the fight, Ennis said he was surprised the fight went on after that time. It was only a matter of time, and Zayas’ corner threw within the towel 1:49 into the seventh round. As Boots promised, the ring announcer proclaimed him the winner and latest champion.
Ennis, who turned 29 years old on Friday, has long been certain for greatness. Tyrone McKenna (25-6-1, 8 KO) recounted taking over Ennis as a 23-year-old pro when Boots was only sixteen years old with two amateur fights under his belt. “[I] jumped in, and I swear to God, I couldn’t hit this guy for the lifetime of me. He absolutely destroyed me. […]
After that spar, I began contemplating, should I even box anymore? This kid annihilated me, really”. McKenna is just certainly one of many individuals Boots has inspired to feel that way.
Ennis switches between southpaw and orthodox stances seamlessly. Together together with his fast feet and fast hands, Boots has incessantly drawn comparisons to recently retired Terence Crawford. Even a few of the criticism Ennis receives feels cut and pasted from Terence Crawford. Ennis has been criticized for his lean resume, despite campaigning in a skinny 147-pound weight class.
But in the largest fight of his profession, Ennis answered any questions there have been about his legitimacy. He got here out strong in front of an adversarial crowd, overcame adversity in round three when it looked like Zayas might do something special, and kept his foot on the gas to shut the show. It was an entire performance.
Earlier within the week, Ennis was asked how he would classify himself as a fighter. “I’m a spread. I can do all of it. I can do whatever; I do what I need. I feel like I’m a boxer-puncher, I can walk people down, I can do inside fighting, outside fighting, mid-range — whatever you wish, I can do it, and I got the IQ to do it.” Fans watching on the Barclays Center and on DAZN would have a tough time disagreeing.
Who will challenge the brand new unified junior middleweight champion in the longer term? Ennis and Vergil Ortiz (24-0, 22 KO) have been sizing one another up for some time in what might be a unbelievable fight. Following Ortiz’s win last November, Ennis entered the ring to stare down Ortiz and set the stage for a fight between the 2. Nevertheless, Ortiz is within the midst of a contractual dispute with Golden Boy Promotions, which has kept him out of the ring since then. Hopefully, any issues will be resolved soon, so Ortiz is dealing less with lawyers and more with sparring partners.
After the fight, Ortiz tweeted that he was “sleeping Jaron”. In a mostly casual, joyous postfight press conference, Boots pointedly said that Ortiz is “flat-footed, and gets hit quite a bit” and seemed desirous to get within the ring with Ortiz.
The most important obstacle facing Ennis can be WBC champion Sebastian Fundora (24-1-1, 15 KO). At 6’ 5” tall with an 80-inch wingspan, Fundora would have a six-inch height and reach advantage over Boots. The native of Coachella, California, just notched the perfect win of his profession, knocking out Keith Thurman in six rounds in March.
The last piece of the junior middleweight puzzle is IBF champion Josh Kelly (18-1-1, 9 KO). This past January, Kelly defeated Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-1, 17 KO) to win the championship. Kelly will make his first title defense against Caoimhin Agyarko on July 25. While the Sunderland, England native has less name recognition than Ortiz or Fundora, holding the IBF championship makes Kelly an attractive option.
Then there’s Xander Zayas himself. The Ennis fight was widely imagined to be Zayas’ last fight at 154 kilos. Nevertheless, Eddie Hearn revealed that Zayas possesses a rematch clause with Ennis. It is difficult to assume Zayas wanting to run it back with Boots, but stranger things have happened. Going into Saturday night, despite Zayas being the champion and the naturally larger fighter, he was a transparent underdog. Though oddsmakers weren’t in his corner, the Brooklyn crowd actually was. Saturday night was the ninth time Zayas has fought in Recent York City as knowledgeable, and the Puerto Rican supporters were behind Zayas.
Fight week felt like a cultural celebration. Brooklyn is already known for its diversity, but with the World Cup in full swing and Puerto Ricans available to cheer for Xander Zayas, the melting pot felt even larger.
The weigh-in on the pavilion in front of the Barclays Center was a steamy affair, with the humidity and the hostilities between the fighters. Boxing fans mingled outdoors with soccer fans and curious passerbys. There was a minor controversy on Friday as Zayas and his team requested that Ennis trim his beard. Initially, Ennis declined, however the Recent York State commission stepped in and compelled Ennis to trim the beard.
Ennis seemed unfazed by the birthday barbershop trip, as he was by the vocal Puerto Rican crowd. “After Saturday night, they’re gonna root for me,” said Ennis. He actually did enough to show a few of those boos into chants of “Boots”. The group was electric inside the sector, even in the course of the preliminary bouts. The undercard was lined with Puerto Ricans.
Within the chief support fight, Emiliano “El General” Vargas (18-0, 15 KO) stopped Bryce Mills (22-2, 9 KO) within the fourth round. Mills, a Recent York native, got here out in a Syracuse Carmelo Anthony jersey to the sounds of “Recent York State of Mind” by Jay-Z. However the Mexican fans in attendance were vocal of their support of El General. With Vargas spending many of the fight in a southpaw stance, the 2 super lightweights traded hard punches for the primary three rounds. Mills lived as much as his promise to go for a knockout against Vargas, but Vargas’ shots appeared to be doing more damage. Vargas knocked Mills down because the third round got here to an in depth, and a small mouse was already starting to form under Mills’ right eye. El General continued his onslaught because the fourth round began, and he just overwhelmed Mills.
Heralded British light heavyweight Ben Whitaker (12-0-1, 9 KO) made his United States debut, and it resulted in a Recent York minute. “The Surgeon” showed his hand speed and reflexes straight away, landing quite a few clean shots before detonating a fast right hook that put Richard Rivera (27-3, 20 KO) down as the primary round concluded. Fifteen seconds into round two, the 2020 Olympic silver medalist beat Rivera to the punch with a textbook left hand that put Rivera down once more, and the referee had seen enough. It was the fourth consecutive fight Whitaker has won by knockout inside five minutes.
Within the lead-up to the fight, Rivera was not too impressed with Whittaker’s braggadocious schtick, saying, “I’m not too thrown off by his antics. I don’t think that those moves, those antics, come from bravery. I believe it’s a mask to cover his real fear…. When it comes right down to fight night, we’re gonna see how far them antics take him.”
Thus far, his antics and his talent have taken Whitaker to the precipice of a shot at a light-weight heavyweight championship.
Jahi Tucker (17-1-1) of Brooklyn defeated Euri Cedeno (14-1-1, 12 KO) by majority decision, winning two judges’ scorecards 97-93 and 98-92, and the third judge having the bout 95-95. It was a contentious ten rounds within the middleweight division. Cedeno, or La Bazuca, was animated throughout the fight, jawing at Tucker because the two went to their separate corners. Tucker was persistent together with his jab, but Cedeno was in a position to block loads of Tucker’s offense. Tucker believes he’s the perfect middleweight on this planet and needs to fight for a world title at 160 kilos.
Super flyweight Juanma Lopez (6-0, 3 KO) placated the Puerto Rican faithful by making short work of Spain’s Alberto Motos (6-3, 2 KO). Junma, son of former two-division world champion Juan Manuel Lopez, floored Motos with a straight left hand before the referee waved off the fight 2:05 into the primary round.
Dennis Thompson (11-0) defeated Edwin Rodriguez (12-12-3) via split-decision in a phone booth fight for eight electric rounds. On paper, Thompson was set as much as win this fight, pad his undefeated record, and move on. But no one gave the script to Puerto Rican Edwin Rodriguez, whose pressure entertained fight fans and caused problems for Thompson. Thompson did higher using his boxing skills in the previous few rounds, and he was in a position to get out and in of exchanges more effectively. Rodriguez was game throughout the bout.
What’s next for Jaron Ennis? A fight at home in Philadelphia? Vergil Ortiz? Attempting to collect a 3rd belt against Fundora or Kelly? Whatever he decides, Jaron Ennis has the boxing world at his boots.