Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis to challenge unified champion Xander Zayas in Brooklyn blockbuster

Jaron “Boots” Ennis is moving on from one big fight and right into another.

Ennis will challenge Xander Zayas for the unified WBA and WBO super welterweight titles on June 27 at the Barclays Center in New York, Matchroom Boxing confirmed Monday.

Zayas vs. Ennis will stream on DAZN pay-per-view and also be available on DAZN Ultimate.

Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) was finalizing a mega-fight with Vergil Ortiz Jr. until a Nevada court ruled earlier in March that Ortiz could not sign to fight Ennis due to an ongoing legal battle with his promoter, Golden Boy, which looks to be headed to arbitration.

A fight between “Boots” and Ortiz was discussed for many months, with the pair even facing off after Ortiz’s second-round destruction of Erickson Lubin this past November. Ennis, however, wasted no time sulking over the fallout of the Ortiz fight. Instead, he moved straight toward making an equally compelling matchup against Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs), which was easier to finalize after Zayas’ promoter, Top Rank, announced a broadcast agreement with DAZN earlier this month.

Ennis formerly held the IBF and WBA unified welterweight titles until he relinquished those belts to move up to 154 pounds this past year. The American knocked out Uisma Lima in the opening round to capture the WBA interim title in his debut at the weight.

Zayas won his first world title, the WBO crown, on Top Rank’s final ESPN show by outboxing Jorge Garcia Perez this past July. Even in the absence of Top Rank having network backing, Zayas managed to land a unification bout with WBA champion Abass Baraou, who he defeated by split decision in his Puerto Rican homecoming bout in January.

Now, it’s Zayas who will take part in the first big fight for Top Rank after the promotional outlet found a new broadcaster partner: DAZN.

“What a fight!” said Ennis’ promoter and Matchroom Chairman, Eddie Hearn. “I’m thrilled to be able to get this fight made for Jaron — this is exactly the kind of occasion that brings the very best out of a future pound-for-pound No. 1. ‘Boots’ shone so brightly against Stanionis in Atlantic City in his first unification fight, and I expect him to light up Brooklyn on June 27.

“But Xander is a special fighter in his own right, and huge props go to him for wanting to fight the very best — Brooklyn has a special fight on it’s hands this summer, and I am counting down the days already.”