Unified 154 lb titleholder Xander Zayas spent some time catching up with Fight Hub TV and discussed his upcoming title defense against Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and why he believes Boots will experience something like he’s never previously experienced in the ring when the pair square off. You can check out some excerpts below with the full interview in the link above.
Zayas on why he will be successful where others have failed against Boots
“All the fighters that he has knocked out, all the fighters that he has fought in the last 10 fights where he actually started fighting big
names, they’re all tailor made for him, they’re all tailor made for Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis. None of those fighters fight like me. None of those fighters have even the style or even come close to the style that I bring to the table.
“I’m a boxer-puncher. I know how to counter, I know how to use my speed, I know how to use my angles. I know how to use my jab. Most of these fighters are just come-forward fighters, shorter than him, skinnier than him, smaller than him. You guys saw the press conference. There’s no advantage here. We’re both the same height, I’m a bit taller than him, definitely bigger than him, and a fighter that’s as athletic as he is. So he has never experienced something like this and come June 27, I will show it.”
On believing he has the better ring IQ
“Because I can wake up everyday and look myself in the mirror and I don’t need 10 people behind me telling me I’m the best. I know I’m the best, I live with that in my head, I go about my business with that in my head. He needs 10 people’s approval, he needs everybody to approve to him that he’s the best.
“Even in the corner, when the corner does not look comfortable, he doesn’t look comfortable. When the corner is giving instructions, he don’t pay attention to his corner. He’s never focused, he needs 10 people telling him…when those 10 people run out of options or run out of answers, I will always be there for him.”
On how they physically match up
“I’m a natural ‘54 that throws volume punches, that throws hard punches, and he will have to think double before he does anything — they always do. Everybody comes in here and before a fight talks about I’m the 22, 23 year old young guy, ‘when I hit him it’s going to be a different story’ and it’s always the other way around. When I hit them, they change their whole game plan.
“So he’s going to have a guy that is young, that has the mentality and that throws a lot of punches back. So let’s see how he deals with that.”
