Xander Zayas and Boots Ennis agree to bout on June 27th
The WBA and WBO super welterweight champion Xander Zayas will defend the unified championship on June 27th against Jaron “Boots” Ennis at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. It headlines an event by Matchroom in association with Top Rank, and will be shown live on DAZN PPV.
Zayas enters this bout having won the WBO title and WBA title in consecutive fights. Last July, Zayas defeated Jorge Garcia Perez for the WBO title in New York City then added the WBA title to his collection with a decision over Abass Baraou on January 31st. The 23 year old Puerto Rican welcomes this next test to prove that he is the best fighter in the division.
“Before I became a World champion, I always sought to face the biggest challenges in my division,” Zayas said. “I have never shied away from a fight and have always been willing to test my skills against anyone. I am ready to defend my world titles against one of the sport’s biggest names.”
“On June 27th, I will continue to show the world what is possible when you dare to be great!”
Ennis will be looking to become a two division unified world champion as he was the WBA and IBF champion at welterweight. Before competing in the super welterweight division, Ennis stopped Eimantas Stanionis last April in Atlantic City to unify at welterweight. Months later, “Boots” knocked out Uisma Lima in one round for the WBA interim super welterweight title. The Philadelphia native wanted to fight for titles in the weight class as soon as possible. Now after one fight in the division he has his chance.
“Time to step and collect these belts!” said Ennis. “Knocking them down one by one! #AndTheNew.”
On social media, both Zayas and Ennis hinted that they would be getting in the ring but the possibility of them fighting each other did not come up until a couple of weeks ago. After Zayas posted that he signed a contract, it was a matter of time before this announcement was made.
Eddie Hearn – Matchroom Boxing chairman and promoter for Jaron Ennis – is looking forward to this matchup in Brooklyn.
“I’m thrilled to be able to get this fight made for Jaron,” Hearn said. “This is exactly the kind of occasion that brings the very best out of a future pound-for-pound #1. Boots shone so brightly against Stanionis in Atlantic City in his first unification fight, and I expect him to light up Brooklyn on June 27th.”
“Xander is a special fighter in his own right, and huge props go to him for wanting to fight the very best – Brooklyn has a special fight on it’s hands this summer, and I am counting down the days already.”
Todd duBoef, who is the president of Top Rank and lead promoter of Zayas, is aware of how important this fight is for the sport.
“The matchup pits boxing’s elite young talent who want to emerge as a pound-for-pound king and entertain the sports world,” duBouef said. “We’re proud to work alongside Matchroom and DAZN to bring this meaningful fight to a global audience from Barclays Center on June 27th.”
In the next few days, there will be information about a press conference plus details of the undercard.
Photos by James Bell for The Boxing Source
