Jaron 'Boots' Ennis Officially Enters The Ring's Pound-for-Pound Rankings

Jaron 'Boots' Ennis has officially taken his rightful place among the boxing elite on the mythical pound-for-pound list after beating Xander Zayas this past weekend.

'Boots' put on a gutsy performance to topple the former champion Xander Zayas, dropping him in rounds three, five and seven before the Puerto Rican's corner called an end to proceedings.

But it was by no means as easy as the result looks on paper. Zayas climbed off the canvas and gave Ennis serious problems when they boxed up close, but Ennis' ability to box from any range gave him the arsenal to overcome his willing opponent.

Jaron Ennis vs Xander Zayas | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Ennis enters P4P rankings

The newly crowned WBA and WBO super welterweight champion has entered the rankings at ninth, dropping Oscar Collazo to tenth and pushing the former undisputed light heavyweight champion, Artur Beterbiev, out of the rankings entirely.

Now undefeated in 36 fights with 32 knockouts, the 28-year-old has already amassed an impressive resume of elite opponents including Zayas, Karen Chudhadzhian, David Avenesyan and Eimantas Stanionis.

📋 The Ring’s latest pound-for-pound rankings:

‼️ Jaron "Boots" Ennis enters at the 9th spot after his victory over Xander Zayas on Saturday 👏 pic.twitter.com/0kTlpvXLX7
— Ring Magazine (@ringmagazine) June 29, 2026

The debate around Ennis' inclusion

It had already been hotly debated whether or not 'Boots' should have been on the list previously after becoming the unified welterweight champion against Stanionis and the de facto king of the division after Terence Crawford's departure in 2024. But now becoming a two-weight unified champion, it is hard to deny that he is an elite operator across multiple weight divisions.

On the eye test, it is easy to understand why his fans wanted him to feature earlier, as he has the ability to box in many different styles and in both the orthodox and southpaw stance with power and accuracy.

On the other hand, he is yet to prove himself as the best in his new division, with Josh Kelly and Sebastian Fundora the remaining champions left to conquer before he becomes undisputed. There are also calls for him to fight Vergil Ortiz Jr, whom The Ring ranks higher in the 154lb division.

It looks as though Ortiz Jr may be next on the list for Ennis, who is keen to prove himself. If he can therefore become undisputed at super welterweight and venture into the middleweight division and find world championship success, there is no reason that Ennis can't find himself near the top of this list.

Those that remain ranked above him are: Devin Haney, Junto Nakatani, Dmitry Bivol, David Benavidez, Jesse 'Bam' Rodriguez, Shakur Stevenson, Oleksandr Usyk and Naoya Inoue. With Usyk having recently vacated his heavyweight titles and Nakatani coming off a loss to Inoue, Ennis might climb a couple of more spots if he can win his next fight.

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