Berlanga expected Xander Zayas to box behind his jab, but says the aggressive approach nearly produced a stunning upset before Jaron Ennis recovered
Edgar Berlanga believes one unexpected tactical decision almost produced one of the biggest upsets of the year when Xander Zayas challenged Jaron “Boots” Ennis for the unified WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles.
Edgar Berlanga believes Xander Zayas came within one finish of handing Jaron “Boots” Ennis the first defeat of his career after abandoning the game plan he expected. Berlanga says Zayas’ decision to stand and trade nearly produced a major upset before Ennis rallied to retain control.
“I thought Xander was going to go out there with a different game plan and box and move around and use his jab,” Berlanga said to Fight Hub TV. “Get away from the power a little bit, slow him down and then press the fight. That’s the mentality I thought he was going to come with. But he came first round; he came right there standing toe to toe with Boots. I was just like, ‘Yeah, this is going to be a good one.'”
The strategy nearly paid off.
After surviving an early knockdown, Zayas badly hurt Ennis with a series of right hands in the third round, leaving Berlanga convinced the Philadelphia star was moments away from suffering the first defeat of his career.
“When he hit him again with the right hand, you see Boots holding on and his legs got weak,” Berlanga recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh my God, he’s about to stop him.’ I thought he was going to stop Boots. Then towards the end of the third round, Boots came back.”
Berlanga admitted the dramatic momentum swings left him questioning what he was watching.
“It was a lot of things that was going through my mind,” Edgar said. “I never seen Boots hurt like that. He was hurt. Not just that round. I feel like the next round he was out of it.”
Ennis ultimately regained control and stopped Zayas in the seventh round to improve to 35-0 (31 KOs), adding the WBO title to his WBA belt and becoming a unified champion in a second weight class. But Berlanga believes the fight showed exactly why boxing needs more elite, undefeated fighters willing to face each other before their primes have passed.
“It was an amazing fight,” Berlanga said. “Boxing needs those fighters that’s young, undefeated, to go clash against each other. Nobody lost any credit. Even though Xander got stopped in the seventh round, people still respect him. They both put on a great performance.”
