The WBO super-lightweight champion gave Zayas credit for taking the fight but sided clearly with Ennis.
“Respect to Xander, hellavu young fighter with the heart of a lion for accepting this fight,” Stevenson said. “We need more fighters like him in boxing, win or lose, he like that. Boots different tho, he’s the hardest fighter to deal with at that weight IMO.”
Ennis moved up from welterweight in October and stopped Uisma Lima in the opening round of his first fight at 154. Zayas holds titles at the weight after decision wins over Jorge Garcia Perez and Abass Baraou.
The two are set to meet on June 27, with both putting undefeated records on the line.
Ennis is entering as the favorite despite Zayas holding belts at the weight. However, Shakur could be wrong with his pick. Ennis had problems with a fighter with a similar style as Zayas, Karen Chukhadzhian.
While Zayas is often marketed as a traditional offensive Puerto Rican star, his actual DNA in the ring has evolved into something much closer to the spoiler style that gave Boots so much trouble in his two fights against Chukhadzhian.
If fans look at how Zayas handled Abass Baraou in January to unify the WBA and WBO titles, he showed the kind of disciplined, outside-boxing and lateral movement that Chukhadzhian used to neutralize Ennis’s explosive power.
If Zayas uses the Chukhadzhian movement but adds world-class power and size to it, Ennis could find himself in a technical hole early. Zayas waits for the opponent to overextend, something Ennis did frequently in the Chukhadzhian rematch, and punishes them with crisp counters.
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Last Updated on 2026/04/13 at 2:42 PM
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