Machismo is a real thing. In a fight where both boxers had a range of choices, Xander Zayas and Jaron "Boots" Ennis decided to slug it out at close range. Zayas had excelled as an outside fighter throughout his career, using his hand speed, legs, and natural boxing ability to win almost all of his bouts comfortably. Yet, he was determined to walk down Ennis in the first round. Boots had the legs to evade Zayas, but he wanted to stay in the pocket.
In the first round, Boots dropped Zayas with a fast combination out of the southpaw stance and subsequently hurt him throughout the rest of the round. But did Zayas start boxing and moving in the second round?
He did not.
Maybe it was the bright lights of Barclays Center in Brooklyn or a horrendous miscalculation by trainer Javiel Centeno, but by the end of the first round, it was clear that Ennis had distinct advantages at close range, especially with his abilities to throw in combination and employ a larger punch arsenal.
 |
| Boots scoring one of his three knockdowns in the fight Photo courtesy of Cris Esqueda/Matchroom |
The third round featured a heroic stand from Zayas. Although he was getting hit a lot, he landed a number of memorable right hands and was able to buzz Ennis.
But as I was watching Ennis dig to the body in the fourth with quick combinations at close range, I remembered what I had heard about his gym in Philly. The ring wars in "Bozy's Dungeon" are legendary (Bozy is Boots' father and trainer).
Boots, who fought Xander for two belts at junior middleweight on Saturday, routinely has sparred super middleweights and light heavyweights, and not for technical sparring or just getting work in. Bozy's gym culture is designed so that Boots not only survives in heavy fire situations but thrives in them.
Last year I was speaking with a senior Pennsylvania boxing official who witnessed Boots destroy a 175-lb.er in sparring. This was prior to Boots' 2025 fight against Uisma Lima. The guy said, "I don't care what Lima has. He has no chance." Boots won in the first round.
Zayas did have moments against Boots, but ultimately, close combat shouldn't have been his approach. He was outgunned and didn't realize it. In the fifth Boots leveled him with a perfect right uppercut during an exchange. In the seventh Boots scored a third knockdown with a furious combination with Zayas trapped along the ropes. The corner threw in the towel after that third knockdown.
I believe that Ennis finally revealed himself during this fight. In past fights Ennis has shown that he could do a lot of different things. He could track down a fighter, beat up an opponent with either hand, flash blinding hand speed, and throw with fierce combinations.
Against Zayas, Boots had several ways to win the fight. But he was more interested in fighting than boxing. After getting tagged in the third, he could have recalibrated and taken a different approach. But he was determined to match fire with fire. He wanted that fight. And despite getting hit a fair amount, he had confidence in his chin that he could survive whatever was coming his way while Zayas could not.
It was an electrifying performance from Boots that thrilled the large crowd in Brooklyn. He had won a mano-a-mano battle and stamped his name into boxing's consciousness.
But there is still another level for Ennis to ascend to. When he realizes that he doesn't have to go to war to win a fight like Saturday's, he will have taken a significant step forward. Ennis lingers too long in the pocket. He gets hit by too many clean shots. A fight like Saturday's could be a career shortener.
In particular what I'm looking for is Ennis' ability to manage a fight. He is always pressing the pedal down full throttle. He doesn't seem interested in a fight lasting 12 rounds. He won't take moments off in a fight let alone rounds. He won't concede anything to an opponent. If he gets hit, he comes right back firing. And while that sentiment is terrifically fan friendly, it also leads to him making risky choices that are frankly unnecessary.
It wouldn't have hurt Boots in the grand scheme of Saturday's fight to take a walk around the ring after getting hit hard in the third round, to slow the pace down. Yes, he would have conceded the round, but instead he took a series of even harder shots to try to win everything back immediately.
Boots still fights with an arrogance where he gets upset when he gets tagged, that getting hit is beneath him. Yet he does get hit cleanly, powerfully, fight after fight. After Saturday's bout he blamed the third round on "him being lazy." He rarely credits the opponent; Boots somehow allowed himself to get hit.
If Boots gets to a level where he respects his opponents and his own ring mortality a little more, then he potentially could reach the top of the mountain in boxing. But he still fights as if he's the big man in the gym, taking on all comers, willing to risk everything at any moment to prove just how tough he is.
Maybe Boots can transition into a working smarter not harder phase of his career. The body can only take so much before it starts to rebel.
Perhaps years from now Boots and Zayas will reflect on their war and the joy they provided to the boxing community. But maybe other thoughts might seep in. They might also have a chuckle and acknowledge that youth so often is wasted on the young.
No comments:
Post a Comment