Golden Boy Promotions, obtained a restraining order to halt the bout from happening without their involvement<\/a>. Ennis feels Zayas is more versatile, moves more, and is a more fluid boxer than Ortiz, who Ennis said would\u2019ve been there easy to hit.<\/p>\n\u201cDon\u2019t get me wrong, Xander will be easy to hit, too, with that big head of his,\u201d said Ennis, laughing. \u201cHey, I didn\u2019t know his head was that big until I stood next to him.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the most interesting point of Wednesday\u2019s Zayas-Ennis kickoff festivities: Zayas is bigger. Though they are each listed at 5-foot-10, Ennis may be closer to 5-foot-11, with a 74-inch reach and fights from an orthodox stance, while Zayas may be closer to 6-foot, and also has a 74-inch reach, though has stopped just one of his past five opponents.<\/p>\n
![\"Xander](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1970_5802.jpg\"\/)
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Xander Zayas vs. Jaron “Boots” Ennis for the unified super welterweight title goes down June 27 in Brooklyn. (Zachariah Delgado, Matchroom Boxing)<\/p>\n
(Zachariah Delgado\/Matchroom Boxing)<\/p>\n
But Zayas thinks he has a distinct advantage over Ennis.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe\u2019s underestimating me and he\u2019s going to pay for that,\u201d Zayas told Uncrowned exclusively. \u201cThat\u2019s the confidence that [Ennis] is supposed to have, and the way he is supposed to think. I get it. I like that he thinks that way. Let him carry that attitude in the ring. I meant what I said up there (pointing at the dais where the fighters spoke at Barclays Center), I\u2019m going to rip his heart out. I told you, I told everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis biggest weakness is looking past me. He may see me as this little kid, 23, but notice when we stood next to each other \u2014 who was bigger? I was. And I\u2019m going to be much bigger than him on fight night. He\u2019s going to find out what I am about on June 27.\u201d<\/p>\n
Javiel Centeno, Zayas\u2019 trainer, who goes way back with him to his youth days, stood on the periphery of the media horde surrounding Zayas with a grin, nodding his head. Centeno likes this version of Zayas \u2014 or E-X, \u201cEvil Xander,\u201d Centeno admitted laughing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m actually surprised by this side of Xander, and he\u2019s always been self-motivated, and \u2018Boots\u2019 can talk about the betting 55-45 split thing [to the winner], but Xander is betting \u2018Boots\u2019 he can\u2019t take his two belts, and he won\u2019t,\u201d Centeno said. \u201cWe always knew Xander was a big boy, and we know he is bigger than \u2018Boots,\u2019 and come fight night, he will be much bigger.<\/p>\n
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\u201cI hate to hear people talk about Xander\u2019s defense, and throughout his entire career, he has hardly lost six rounds.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Top Rank hierarchy, which has promoted Zayas throughout his career, feels this is a win-win for their fighter. They say it is equivalent to Saul \u201cCanelo\u201d Alvarez taking on a prime Floyd Mayweather Jr. early in his career and suffering his first loss in 2013, a majority decision victory for \u201cMoney Mayweather.\u201d Mayweather was 36 at the time and Alvarez was just 23, like Zayas, although Alvarez has since called it one of the most important nights of his career. It taught him valuable lessons about being on this big of a stage.<\/p>\n
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For Zayas, a victory over Ennis catapults him to greater boxing stardom. A loss, and he reaps the rewards of what it is like facing a fighter many believe could be the next dominant force in boxing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like the scenario, but the problem is, I\u2019m not going to lose,\u201d Zayas said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t think I can be a problem for him. That\u2019s his problem. I may not have faced anyone like him, full respect to him, but he has never faced anyone as large, as fast, and as athletic as I am. I know what he thinks \u2014 he thinks he\u2019s going to beat my ass. Let him keep thinking it.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Ennis, he still feels he has doubters out there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hear it \u2014 I get hit too much,\u201d Ennis said.<\/p>\n
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\u201c[Zayas] needed extra time to get ready for this fight, when I know I don\u2019t need it. I\u2019m too much for him. I know I don\u2019t have a belt, but I\u2019m the best in this division.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BROOKLYN, NY \u2014 They spoke about head sizes, and head movement, and levels, and long nights, and fat…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":591500,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[447],"tags":[703,49,48,37503,82,17571],"class_list":{"0":"post-591499","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-ennis","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-xander-zayas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591499","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=591499"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/591499\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/591500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=591499"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=591499"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=591499"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}