Zayas and Boots will define a division on June 27

Xander Zayas and Jaron "Boots" Ennis face off at the press conference announcing their June 27 showdown at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

(Matchroom Boxing)

On June 27, two of boxing's brightest undefeated stars will walk into Barclays Center in Brooklyn with everything to lose and everything to gain. Xander Zayas, the 23-year-old Puerto Rican unified WBO and WBA World Super Welterweight champion, puts his titles and his legacy on the line against Jaron "Boots" Ennis, the hard-hitting Philadelphia southpaw making his move up to 154 pounds in search of a second world title. Two fighters, two perfect records, one night that will define both of their careers for years to come.

Xander Zayas has done everything right. At just 23 years old, the Puerto Rico-based fighter already holds unified world titles and carries the weight of an entire island's boxing tradition on his shoulders. In January 2026, he became the youngest unified champion in the sport when he edged Abass Baraou via split decision at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico, adding the WBA strap to the WBO belt he had claimed at Madison Square Garden the previous summer. He is unbeaten in 23 professional fights with 13 knockouts, and he has built that record the right way, taking on progressively stiffer competition, fighting often, and improving with every outing. Puerto Rico has produced some of the greatest champions in boxing history, names like Wilfredo Benitez, Felix Trinidad, and Miguel Cotto. Zayas knows what that lineage demands, and on June 27 he gets the biggest test of his young career to prove he belongs in that conversation.

Jaron "Boots" Ennis has been waiting for a moment like this. The 28-year-old Philadelphia native enters Barclays Center with a 35-0 record and 31 knockouts, a finishing rate that puts the boxing world on notice every time he steps through the ropes. Ennis unified the welterweight division in April 2025, stopping Eimantas Stanionis brutally to add the WBA strap to his IBF crown, and then relinquished those titles to move up to 154 pounds with his sights set on becoming a two-weight unified world champion. The path here was not straightforward. A highly anticipated showdown with Vergil Ortiz Jr. collapsed over weight class disagreements and legal complications, and talks with Devin Haney fell apart over similar issues. Every road seemed to hit a dead end until Zayas was the fight that finally got made.

The jump in weight is a statement in itself. Boots is not here to build toward anything, he is here to take what he believes already belongs to him. He is a southpaw with rare switch-hitting ability, elite hand speed, and the kind of one-punch power that has ended fights at every stage. If Zayas is carrying the legacy of Puerto Rican boxing into Brooklyn, Boots is carrying the hunger of a fighter who believes he has not yet been given the stage his talent deserves.