Roy Jones Jr believes Xander Zayas still has the talent to develop into a world champion despite his first skilled defeat, but insists his biggest challenge is rebuilding his mindset following his stoppage loss to Jaron “Boots” Ennis.
“I’m going to be honest with you. He must see a sports psychologist first,” Jones said on All The Smoke Fight with Andre Ward. “If he’s smart, he goes see a sports psychologist, get his mind back right.
“That is what people don’t understand about prizefighting. In your mind, should you’re going to be an actual prizefighter, you bought to be willing to kill or die.”
Jones argued that elite fighters must regain complete confidence after suffering a dangerous defeat, adding that mental recovery is just as essential as physical healing.
“You bought to have a team that understands easy methods to prevent from yourself,” Jones continued. “He’s got to return to a sports psychologist first to place that mentality back in his mind, because once that’s been broken that must be fixed.
“Plenty of time when people get broken, they don’t return and fix it psychologically. If it gets fixed psychologically, he can come back and be world champion again because he has the tools, he has the talents.”
The comments come just over per week after Zayas suffered the primary lack of his skilled profession when he was stopped by Ennis of their unified junior middleweight title fight on the Barclays Center. Before the defeat, the 23-year-old Puerto Rican had built an unbeaten record and was widely viewed as one in every of boxing’s brightest young champions.
Jones’ assessment suggests the previous unified titleholder has the flexibility to return to the highest of the division, but only after addressing the psychological effects of his first setback.
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Last Updated on 2026/07/06 at 4:15 PM