WBO and WBA junior middleweight champion Xander Zayas and challenger Jaron “Boots” Ennis met face to face at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Tuesday to preview their June 27 clash, a fight that will stream live on DAZN PPV and marks the first major co-promotion between Matchroom and Top Rank under their new partnership.
The tone was pointed from the start. Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) dismissed the 23-year-old champion’s chances outright, telling the crowd he believes Zayas has overreached by accepting the fight. Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs), who became the youngest unified champion in boxing when he added the WBA title to his WBO belt with a split decision over Abass Baraou earlier this year, was just as direct.
The Money Question
Ennis introduced a financial wrinkle that added an edge to the back and forth. He revealed that Zayas declined a proposed 55-45 purse split favoring the winner, framing the refusal as a tell. “If he’s so confident, why didn’t he take the 55-45 split for the winner?” Ennis said. “I think that shows a lot. There’s levels to this.”
Zayas did not engage on the purse structure. His focus stayed on legacy and what the fight means for his career. “Anybody could have taken the easy route and just get an easy win,” Zayas said. “I want to fight the best. I want to show that I’m the best every time I step into the ring.”
Hearn’s Admission
Perhaps the most revealing comments came from Matchroom chairman Eddie Hearn, who admitted he would have steered Zayas away from this fight entirely if the roles were reversed. “If I represented Xander Zayas, there is no way I would let him take this fight,” Hearn said. “I’d be saying, ‘Listen, we’ll go to MSG, we’ll fill that out and we’ll do another homecoming fight in Puerto Rico. We’ll milk it.’ But this fight is what boxing needs.”
It was a striking admission from a promoter not known for underselling his own events, and it underscored the degree of risk Zayas is absorbing. Ennis has stopped 31 of his 35 opponents and has been widely regarded as the most avoided fighter in boxing for the better part of three years.
The Size Factor
Zayas pushed back on the narrative that Ennis is simply too big and too powerful for the division. “Everybody at 147 was always smaller than him,” Zayas said. “154 is different. You got these guys coming from 190, 185, 200. It’s different.” When asked what advantages he holds, Zayas was succinct: “Everything. He has never faced an athletic fighter like me.”
Ennis was equally confident but more clinical. “I’m faster than you think. I’m stronger and I have a better IQ, too,” he said. “He’s going to be in for a long night.”
Top Rank president Todd DuBoef framed the matchup as a generational moment for the sport, calling it a fight between two young, undefeated fighters willing to risk everything in their primes. Zayas’ trainer Javiel Centeno said the team had studied Ennis for some time and identified vulnerabilities they believe they can exploit. Bozy Ennis, Jaron’s father and trainer, countered that his son operates on levels Zayas has not yet seen.
June 27 will answer the question. For now, neither side is pretending this is anything other than what it is: the most dangerous fight either man has taken.
