Before a sold-out crowd of more than 16,000 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Top Rank, Matchroom Boxing, and Boots Promotions presented a stacked DAZN Pay-Per-View card headlined by Jaron “Boots” Ennis challenging WBA and WBO champion Xander Zayas. Ennis dropped Zayas three times before the champion’s corner threw in the towel in the seventh round.
Zayas (23-1, 13 KOs), of Puerto Rico, was making the first defense of his unified titles against former IBF welterweight champion Ennis (36-0, 31 KOs), of Philadelphia.
On his birthday, Ennis opened in the southpaw stance and wasted little time making an impression. Just over a minute into the first round, he landed a left hand on the chin that sent Zayas to the canvas for an eight-count from referee Harvey Dock. Ennis switched back to orthodox in the second round and continued landing clean right hands while Zayas tried to recover.
The third round produced Zayas’ best moment of the fight when he connected with a hard right hand that briefly forced Ennis to hold. It was one of the few rounds where Zayas had genuine success. By the fourth, Ennis had settled back into his rhythm, repeatedly finding the target with straight rights while both fighters exchanged late in the round.
A right uppercut midway through the fifth produced another knockdown. Zayas beat the count again but was clearly taking punishment, and Ennis continued landing hard right hands before the bell.
Zayas showed plenty of courage in the sixth, remaining competitive despite trailing badly. In the seventh, Ennis landed a left hand followed by a barrage of unanswered punches that dropped Zayas for the third time. Although Zayas got back to his feet again, his corner wisely threw in the towel to prevent further punishment.
Vargas Stops Mills
In the co-feature, Emiliano “El General” Vargas (18-0, 15 KOs) stopped Bryce Mills (22-2, 9 KOs) in the fourth round to retain his regional titles.
The opening two rounds were competitive. Vargas switched to southpaw at times and landed the cleaner shots, while Mills had his best moment late in the second when a right hand briefly stunned Vargas.
Vargas broke the fight open in the third, scoring the first knockdown with a right hook. In the fourth, he dropped Mills again with a lead left before another barrage sent Mills down a third time, forcing referee Ricky Gonzalez to stop the contest.
Tucker Wins Close Decision
Jahi Tucker (17-1-1, 7 KOs) earned a majority decision over 2020 Olympian Euri Cedeno (14-1-1, 12 KOs) to claim the vacant IBF North American, WBC USA, and WBO NABO middleweight titles.
The fight was closely contested throughout. Tucker started quickly, Cedeno rallied, and the middle rounds featured steady back-and-forth action. Cedeno used his reach well in the seventh and eighth before Tucker closed strongly over the final two rounds despite suffering a bloody nose and swelling under his left eye.
The scores were 95-95, 97-93, and 98-92.
Whittaker Impresses In U.S. Debut
Olympic silver medalist Ben Whittaker (12-0-1, 9 KOs) needed less than two rounds to stop Richard “Popeye the Sailor Man” Rivera (27-3, 20 KOs).
Making his U.S. debut, Whittaker dominated from the opening bell before dropping Rivera with a chopping right near the end of the first round. Early in the second, a left hook sent Rivera down again. Although Rivera beat the count, referee Michael Griffin took one look at him and decided he had seen enough, waving off the contest.
Thompson Escapes With Split Decision
Dennis “HFUP” Thompson (11-0, 6 KOs) won an eight-round split decision over Edwin Rodriguez (12-12-3, 5 KOs).
Thompson boxed well early, but Rodriguez refused to cooperate with the script, turning the fight into a rugged battle and looking far better than his record suggested. The final round was close, and the judges returned scores of 79-73, 77-75 for Thompson, and 77-75 for Rodriguez.
Juanmita Ends It Early
Juanma “Juanmita” Lopez (6-0, 4 KOs), the son of former two-division world champion Juan Manuel Lopez, needed just one round to knock out Alberto Motos (6-3).
Lopez controlled the action before a straight left landed flush on Motos’ chin. Motos went down and failed to beat the count as referee Ricky Gonzalez completed the knockout.
Williams Outpoints Baxter
Quincey Williams (8-0, 6 KOs) defeated Jerome “Thoroughbred” Baxter (8-3, 3 KOs) over eight rounds.
Williams controlled most of the fight with his jab and movement, while Baxter earned respect by continuing to press forward despite falling behind on the scorecards. All three judges scored the contest 79-73 in Williams’ favor.
Note: The night’s final officiating crew included ring announcer David Diamante—not referee David Diamante, who somehow found his way into the original report.
- Ken Hissner
