Opinions and Observations: Zayas-Ennis

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.  

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

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Opinions and Observations: Ennis-Avanesyan

Like many sports, boxing involves the combination of offense and defense. Although both elements are necessary for victory, they need not be equally distributed to win. Think about the times that a team or an individual has so much offensive firepower that the opposition just can't match them. And it works the other way too. Defensive masters can be so adept that they can neutralize whatever the opponent brings. 

Jaron "Boots" Ennis is to the left of the offense/defense continuum in boxing. His offense is so advanced, so fluid and so spiteful that it more than covers up for his defensive shortcomings. To this point in his career, he is 32-0 with 29 KOs. But his dominance is even more comprehensive than that; he barely loses rounds. Contrast Ennis with Terence Crawford, a fighter to whom Ennis is frequently compared. Crawford has lost his fair share of rounds in fights. He doesn't mind giving an opponent a couple of early rounds while he figures out the openings. He's had to come up with knockouts in close fights. 

Boots goes about his business differently. He attacks opponents from the opening bell. Featuring a much higher volume than Crawford and a willingness to mix it up, Boots welcomes a firefight. He's not trying to defuse a conflagration. He wants the proceedings to get a little ragged and nasty. He knows that few can compete with his blistering offensive arsenal. 

Boots Ennis (left) in full flow
Photo courtesy of Amanda Westcott/Matchroom Boxing

But Boots gets hit in a way that is concerning. Whether it's Thomas Dulorme, Sergey Lipinets or now David Avanesyan, Boots has given his opponents the type of free shots that create a degree of peril in his performances. Make no mistake: it's not that he gets hit; everyone gets hit. It's how he gets hit. 

Throughout portions of the fourth and fifth rounds in Saturday's fight, Boots was slugging it out with Avanesyan in close range, landing spectacular combinations and power shots. Yet after throwing, his hands were nowhere near his head, leaving himself unguarded for Avanesyan's return counters. And Avanesyan connected with some impressive straight rights and left hooks. Boots took them all and took them well. And it should be noted that Avanesyan is not some light-hitting foe. But it wasn't a stray shot or two for Avanesyan during the fight. He landed his best shots at an unprotected target.

To this point in his career, Boots has relied on his chin during firefights instead of defensive technique. He has already taken some big bombs in his career, but they haven't dissuaded him from continuing his offensive onslaughts. However, I can't say it's the best long-term strategy. 

But let's also offer up the possibility that Boots may happen to have a great beard. We've seen several fighters with immovable chins. Gennadiy Golovkin could take anyone's punches. Canelo can as well (not that he is in the business of giving away free shots). Maybe Boots will fit into this category.

Let's return to Crawford, who more closely resembles Ennis than do Golovkin or Canelo. Terence has had his own defensive issues in some of his fights. I wouldn't call him a defensive savant, especially when in the orthodox position, but it's worth pointing out that Crawford has yet to lose a fight. What I'm getting at here is that a potential weakness is not the same as a real weakness. So, I think it's important to note the obvious, that Boots' can be gotten to, but it's not necessarily a tragic flaw at this point...as long as he can take the shots. 

However, let's also not lose the forest through the trees. The offensive display that Boots put forward on Saturday was majestic. By the second round, he had already dominated Avanesyan with his jab from the orthodox stance and violent right hooks out of the southpaw stance. By the end of the second, Avanesyan's left flank was already reddened by the hooks to the body. In addition, a significant knot arose on Avanesyan's face, more evidence of Boots' power punching success. 

Boots with his belt after the victory
Photo courtesy of Amanda Westcott/Matchroom Boxing

So many fighters are programmed with their combinations. How about a left hook to the body and right hand to the head? How about the jab, straight right and the left hook? These sequences have been drilled into fighters since they were kids, and they throw them like they have mastered a particular test. 

But Boots isn't playing that game. His combinations come from a sort of improvisatory genius that combines athletic mastery, sterling punch technique, creativity, supreme speed, and opportunism. I doubt that Boots knows what he's going to throw until the second he unleashes a combo. I don't think he says to himself "left hook, left hook." He sees an opening and then unfurls a combination that could incorporate any of his punches at a given time. He always has everything in his arsenal ready to go. 

And he's not burdened by orthodoxy. How about a double rear uppercut followed by a rear hook? How about a rear uppercut followed by a looping back hand (this was the combination that floored Avanesyan in the fifth)? How about a straight right hand, a left uppercut to the head and a left hook to the body? A Boots opponent has no idea what's coming and consequently can't get his defense aligned to stop the oncoming foray. 

Saturday's crowd in Philadelphia literally oohed and aahed multiple times a round during Boots' combinations. And Philadelphia boxing fans are not easily impressed. They have seen champions and talents of all stripes. Yet there Boots was putting together combinations of beauty and wonder. He had them eating out of the palm of his hand; they were enraptured.

The fight was stopped after the fifth round as Avanesyan sustained damage to his jaw and had gotten beaten up to the body. Ennis retained his welterweight title, but Avanesyan played his role well. After the fight, Boots admitted that he was a little rusty and wasn't pleased with all aspects of his performance. Avanesyan gave Boots things to think about, to realize that his performance was insufficient, and there haven't been too many of Boots' opponents where that has been the case. 

The Boots train is now in full swing. Armed with a new promotional deal with Matchroom, a division at welterweight that sees few legitimate threats, and now a loyal home following that can generate real box office, Boots can continue to mow down willing opponents in front of a big home crowds for good money. He's in the sweet spot. 

But the risks are there. And although I have mentioned a couple of outliers, the fighters who can remain at the elite level while giving away free shots are few. In the end, Boots' offense might be so good that my concerns may be moot. Or maybe not. But I know one thing: we'll all be watching to find out. The Boots Ennis Show is unmissable. 

Adam Abramowitz is the founder and head writer of saturdaynightboxing.com. 

He's a contributing writer for Ring Magazine, a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Panel, the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Email: saturdaynightboxing@hotmail.com

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