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 better, landing some clean shots of his own and trying to use his size to wear down Ennis in clinches. In round 3, Zayas sent the crowd 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 worried for about twenty seconds in the third round, while Ennis said he was chilling.
Zayas proved why he was a worthy unified champion, trying to stick and move and avoid the fanatic assault from Philadelphia’s Ennis. The Puerto Rican faithful were trying 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 point. It was only a matter of time, and Zayas’ corner threw in the towel 1:49 into the seventh round. As Boots promised, the ring announcer proclaimed him the winner and new champion.
Ennis, who turned 29 years old on Friday, has long been bound for greatness. Tyrone McKenna (25-6-1, 8 KO) recounted taking on 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 could not hit this guy for the life of me. He absolutely destroyed me. […]
After that spar, I started contemplating, should I even box anymore? This kid annihilated me, really”. McKenna is just one of many people Boots has inspired to feel that way.
Ennis switches between southpaw and orthodox stances seamlessly. In combination with his fast feet and fast hands, Boots has frequently drawn comparisons to recently retired Terence Crawford. Even some of the criticism Ennis receives feels cut and pasted from Terence Crawford. Ennis has been criticized for his lean resume, despite campaigning in a thin 147-pound weight class.
But in the biggest fight of his career, Ennis answered any questions there were about his legitimacy. He came 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 close the show. It was a complete performance.
Earlier in the week, Ennis was asked how he would classify himself as a fighter. “I’m a variety. I can do it all. I can do whatever; I do what I want. I feel like I’m a boxer-puncher, I can walk people down, I can do inside fighting, outside fighting, mid-range — whatever you want, I can do it, and I got the IQ to do it.” Fans watching at the Barclays Center and on DAZN would have a hard time disagreeing.
Who will challenge the new unified junior middleweight champion in the future? Ennis and Vergil Ortiz (24-0, 22 KO) have been sizing each other up for a while in what could be a fantastic fight. Following Ortiz’s win last November, Ennis entered the ring to stare down Ortiz and set the stage for a fight between the two. However, Ortiz is in the midst of a contractual dispute with Golden Boy Promotions, which has kept him out of the ring since then. Hopefully, any issues can 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 a lot” and seemed eager to get in the ring with Ortiz.
The biggest obstacle facing Ennis would 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 best win of his career, 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 enticing option.
Then there is Xander Zayas himself. The Ennis fight was widely speculated to be Zayas’ last fight at 154 pounds. However, Eddie Hearn revealed that Zayas possesses a rematch clause with Ennis. It is hard to imagine 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 clear underdog. Though oddsmakers were not in his corner, the Brooklyn crowd certainly was. Saturday night was the ninth time Zayas has fought in New York City as a professional, 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 on hand to cheer for Xander Zayas, the melting pot felt even larger.
The weigh-in at 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, but the New York State commission stepped in and forced 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 certainly did enough to turn some of those boos into chants of “Boots”. The crowd was electric inside the arena, even during the preliminary bouts. The undercard was lined with Puerto Ricans.
In the chief support fight, Emiliano “El General” Vargas (18-0, 15 KO) stopped Bryce Mills (22-2, 9 KO) in the fourth round. Mills, a New York native, came out in a Syracuse Carmelo Anthony jersey to the sounds of “New York State of Mind” by Jay-Z. But the Mexican fans in attendance were vocal in their support of El General. With Vargas spending most of the fight in a southpaw stance, the two super lightweights traded hard punches for the first three rounds. Mills lived up to his promise to go for a knockout against Vargas, but Vargas’ shots seemed to be doing more damage. Vargas knocked Mills down as the third round came to a close, and a small mouse was already beginning to form under Mills’ right eye. El General continued his onslaught as 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 ended in a New York minute. “The Surgeon” showed his hand speed and reflexes right away, landing numerous clean shots before detonating a quick right hook that put Richard Rivera (27-3, 20 KO) down as the first 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 again, and the referee had seen enough. It was the fourth consecutive fight Whitaker has won by knockout inside of five minutes.
In 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 think it’s a mask to hide his real fear…. When it comes down to fight night, we’re gonna see how far them antics take him.”
So far, his antics and his talent have taken Whitaker to the precipice of a shot at a light 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 in the middleweight division. Cedeno, or La Bazuca, was animated throughout the fight, jawing at Tucker as the two went to their separate corners. Tucker was persistent with his jab, but Cedeno was able to block a lot of Tucker’s offense. Tucker believes he is the best middleweight in the world and wants to fight for a world title at 160 pounds.
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 first 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 up to win this fight, pad his undefeated record, and move on. But nobody gave the script to Puerto Rican Edwin Rodriguez, whose pressure entertained fight fans and caused problems for Thompson. Thompson did better using his boxing skills in the last few rounds, and he was able to get in and out of exchanges more effectively. Rodriguez was game for the duration of the bout.
What’s next for Jaron Ennis? A fight at home in Philadelphia? Vergil Ortiz? Trying to collect a third belt against Fundora or Kelly? Whatever he decides, Jaron Ennis has the boxing world at his boots.
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