Jarod Ennis was dominant as he claimed a seventh-round knockout victory over Xander Zayas to unify the WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles at the Brooklyn Center in New York.
The loss for Zayas marks the first of his career, moving him to 23-1, while ‘Boots’ Ennis went up to 36-0 which includes an impressive 32 knockouts.
It means that Ennis now holds both titles at 154lbs.
Ennis knew a win in this fight would make a statement and with that, he set out with intent, dropping Zayas in the opening round with a left hand and twice more in the fight.
Jarod Ennis sent Xander Zayas to the canvas in the seventh round for the KO win
Zayas had rallied in the third and fourth round, his right hand causing issues for Ennis that backed him into the ropes, but then from the fifth ‘Boots’ took control when he dropped his opponent for a second time.
With 1:49 on the clock in the seventh round, Zayas hit the deck once again after taking a barrage of left hooks. Although, he got up before the count once again, the referee this time called it.
Whittaker stops Riviera in second round
Ben Whittaker pulled off a dominant second-round knockout victory over Richard Riviera on the undercard in his US debut.
The fight was just 27 seconds into the second round when Whittaker sent Riviera to the deck for a second time and secured the victory that moves him to 12-0-1 with nine knockouts.
Whittaker was in control throughout against his 35-year-old opponent, his jabs proving too much for Riviera to handle.
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Zak Chelli insists he does not view Ben Whittaker as his ‘competition’ and claims he dropped the Olympic silver medallist during a past sparring session
After sending him to the canvas late in the opening round with a strong right hand, it was not long after the bell for the second that another combination proved too much for Riviera.
The win is another key victory for Whittaker as he continues his rise in the light heavyweight division, with a world title fight at 175lbs the aim.
Indeed, promoter Eddie Hearn believes Whittaker is ‘three fights’ away from challenging the light-heavyweight world title holders, and a big domestic clash against fellow Englishman Buatsi or Scotland’s Willy Hutchinson could happen later this year.
“I think me and Buatsi are kind of close,” Whittaker told Sky Sports. “I think we’re two and three in the WBC [rankings], so something like that could happen.
“And Willy, I’ve beaten him before in the amateurs, so it’d be good to get another win over him in the pros.
“But for me, it’s whoever’s next, whoever makes sense, whoever’s going to get me to where I need to get to.”
Watch Edwin De Los Santos vs Jose Valenzuela live on Sky Sports from 9.30pm on Sunday.
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