Jaron “Boots” Ennis put on a show on Saturday night at Barclays Center in New York City, as he dropped Xander Zayas three times; Zayas’ corner saw enough, and Ennis would win by 7th-round TKO to capture the WBO and WBA titles to become a unified champion at 154 pounds.
Ennis(36-0, 32 KOs), who was a unified champion at 147 pounds, dropped Zayas(23-1, 13 KOs) in the first, fifth, and seventh rounds. Zayas showed some toughness, and he had the most success in the third round, when he hurt Ennis, but the Philadelphia native recovered and went back to dominating Zayas.
‘Boots’ put on an offensive clinic on Saturday night. Of his 148 punches landed, 131 were power punches, while 78 of Zayas’ 90 punches landed were power shots. It was a shootout, and the 29-year-old Ennis had more ammo.
Fight
End of the Day:
Ennis and Zayas both had their toughest opponent in front of them on Saturday, and Ennis proved to be the better fighter. It was clear from the first round who the more talented fighter was, but to Zayas’ credit, he showed toughness and did not go away easily.
Going into this fight, many believed it was too soon for the 23-year-old Zayas, and it probably was, but he took the fight, and hopefully, the Puerto Rican native will be better for it.
Regarding Ennis, he’s a star and an exciting fighter to watch. Ennis, just like all Philly fighters, is tough and doesn’t mind a good scrap, maybe to his detriment.
The knock on Ennis is that he gets hit too much, and maybe that’s true, but he’s proven to have a great chin. Two things can be true at the same time. Ennis has a great chin, and he gets hit too much.
It was a great night of boxing and a great night for Ennis.
Photos: Matchroom Boxing
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