Terence Crawford Dismisses Hype Around Jaron Ennis' Win Over Xander Zayas

Jaron 'Boots' Ennis beat Xander Zayas to become unified super welterweight champion.

Terence Crawford on September 9, 2025. | IMAGO / Hoganphotos

Terence Crawford has dismissed Jaron 'Boots' Ennis' victory over Xander Zayas to become a two-weight unified champion.

'Boots' had to pull a performance from the fire as he could not keep the young champion, Zayas, down. He climbed to his feet after being knocked down on three separate occasions and continued to give Ennis trouble if he let him get too close, using his bigger frame and impressive inside fighting.

Eventually, Zayas' corner had seen enough after the third and on to a potential fourth and more devastating knockdown, but it had given the newly crowned champion something to think about at this new weight.

Following the victory, Ennis has been installed at No.9 in The Ring's pound-for-pound list, which has been met with some debate, as there are those who believe he should have been there before the fight. Some also believe that after that tough fight, he should still need to prove himself further against additional elite fighters at this weight class first.

Jaron Ennis vs Xander Zayas | IMAGO / ZUMA Press Wire

Crawford calls the victory 'overhyped'

Former undisputed super lightweight, welterweight and super middleweight champion Terence Crawford is one of those people. In a recent interview on the PorterWay Podcast, he said that Ennis might find himself in trouble against other fighters in the division with a performance like that.

"I think we are overhyping this victory. In a sense where, nobody picked Xander to win, everybody was thinking of like 'okay he is in over his head and its only a matter of time before boots catch him' and end the fight."

Terence Crawford

"I think it's going to be different when he goes up against a [Sebastian] Fundora or a Vergil [Ortiz Jr] because if one of those guys gets him hurt like Xander did, I don't think it is going to be the same outcome."

Terence Crawford says Boots Victory over Xander Zayas is overhyped! pic.twitter.com/wYCYH1losv

— The PorterWay Podcast (@ThePorterWayPod) June 29, 2026

Despite three knockdowns against Zayas, there were periods of the fight, as Crawford has identified, that Ennis found himself in some trouble. He was a bit lazy with his defense and was wobbled or caught off balance by Zayas, which could be fatal against a better finisher.

Fundora and Ortiz Jr are universally agreed upon as the two other elites at super middleweight, and it's perhaps a case of 'Boots' taking on too much, too soon, in almost going straight into a world title fight at his new weight. These are both world-class finishers with two different but equally troublesome styles for 'Boots'.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. [right] guarantees the WBC interim junior middleweight belt after a hard-earned triumph against Serhii Bohachuk

Josh Kelly is in this equation as the IBF champion, but he does not present the same level of knockout risk as the aforementioned pair. Ortiz is a true inside fighter and already has an elite-level resume. Fundora is something of a unicorn at 154 lbs. Standing 6'5", he would probably be the first and last time Ennis fights someone of his stature.