Tonight at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, two of the greatest boxers in the world, Xander Zayas vs. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, will face off in one of the most anticipated fights of the year. Zayas is defending the WBA and WBO Super Welterweight titles in this contest.
Check out my pick for Xander Zayas vs. Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis below.
Jaron Ennis by KO/TKO/DQ (+100)
Ennis, 29, has an undefeated record of 35-0 with 31 knockouts and continues to work his way up the pound-for-pound list. He won the IBF Welterweight Championship, defended it twice, and moved up to try to add to his legacy. In 2025, he scored back-to-back knockouts against Eimantas Stanionis and Uisma Lima.
‘Boots’ is from Philadelphia, which is not too far from Brooklyn, the host city of tonight’s event. His previous five fights have taken place in either Philadelphia or Atlantic City. Although Ennis has faced tough competition before in his career, none of them were as talented as Zayas. Zayas is only 23 years old and has quickly become one of the best boxers in the sport. He is coming off a split decison win over Abass Baraou in his home country of Puerto Rico.
Traditionally, in boxing, undefeated boxers in their prime do not face each other. But Zayas and Ennis are trying to break that stereotype with a marquee matchup that has all the makings of a phenomenal fight. On paper, the two match up evenly with the same height (5’10”) and standing reach (74″). But to me, the difference maker is Ennis’ game-changing power. Zayas has power of his own with 13 career kincokouts bhu8t it is unlikely that he will be able to stand and trade with ‘Boots’ for a long period of time.
On DraftKings Sportsbook, Ennis is a -500 favorite with Zayas as a +350 underdog. The over/under is set at 10.5 rounds with the over being -165. Since 31 of his 35 wins have come by knockout, I’m taking ‘Boots’ to win by KO/TKO/DQ at +100. Ennis has won back-to-back fights by knockout, and 14 of his last 25 victories have come by finish.
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