Xander Zayas vs. Jaron Ennis Live Updates, Results and Highlights

Junior middleweight may not be the final step for Ennis.

Chevelle Hallback, a former multi-division women's champion who had two distance fights with Holly Holm, thinks "Boots" can carry the skill to 160, too.

"He wants whomever at 154 and 160," she told Bleacher Report. "'Boots' is special. Gifted."

Ennis gave Zayas his flowers and commended him for taking the fight voluntarily.

"I appreciate Xander Zayas for taking this because he didn't have to," he said. "He could've fought someone way more easy but he wanted to test himself."

Zayas returned the sentiment.

"You dream big. Sometimes you come up short but it's part of the journey," he said. "I knew I had one of the best in the game in front of me, but it's part of the business."

Zayas landed a left hook early in the seventh, but Ennis replied with a hard combination to end the first minute.

Zayas began moving more so than in the earlier rounds, making Ennis pursue. Ennis did so and connected with a right hook that stiffened Zayas and sent him back to the ropes.

Ultimately, a left hand drove him to his right knee, and his corner waved it off as he nodded at 1:47 of the seventh.

Ennis continued to stalk to begin the round as Zayas tried to recover from the fifth. Zayas moved but didn't punch much.

Ennis seemed content to be methodical and worked from a right-handed stance behind a stiff jab. A hard right snapped Zayas's head back in the final five seconds.

Slightly slower pace in the first minute but still scintillating. Suddenly, an exchange of shots ends with a hard right uppercut that drops Zayas for a 9 count.

Ennis followed up strong and prompted a long look from referee Harvey Dock. A hard body shot drove him to the ropes and Ennis continued to batter him to the bell.

Right back into the fray to start the fourth with each man landing hard shots in the opening minute. Zayas missed a three-punch combination and Ennis landed to the body.

Another hard right from Zayas triggered a toe-to-toe exchange in the center. Zayas's single shots seem harder now and Ennis is not punching in volume consistently.

Zayas has landed occasional single shots and drilled Ennis with a hard right about halfway through the round that drove the Philadelphian backward.

The blow prompted a toe-to-toe exchange that the Puerto Rican controlled. Ennis was wobbly but he stayed in the pocket rather than evading follow-up punches and rallied late. Terrific round.

Typically a boxer, Zayas is choosing to stalk and trade with Ennis and it's not working well because of the difference in speed and precision.

Ennis is throwing and landing better and is able to stay in the pocket and elude Zayas's shots by moving his head and body, not his feet.

Zayas is the bigger, broader man, having reportedly rehydrated 20-plus pounds after Friday's weigh-in. But Ennis is faster and sharper switching from his southpaw stance to orthodox and dropped Zayas with a left-right combo just short of two minutes into the round.

Zayas rose and was sturdy but didn't fare well competitively by simply standing in front of Ennis.  

Ennis strutted to the ring alongside Jadakiss.

Ennis turned 29 on Friday and got a bagful of presents, including a Team USA soccer jersey and a stash of Sour Patch Kids candy.

But he claimed his gift for himself will be Zayas's two belts.

"That'll make me a two-time unified champion in two weight classes," he said. "Legacy."

Zayas is a unified, two-belt champion at 154 pounds. He's ranked third by Ring Magazine in the weight class, two slots above Ennis.

But when it comes to DraftKings, Ennis is a 5-to-1 favorite.

Vargas improved to 18-0, scored his 15th knockout and called for either a former champion or a title eliminator at 140 pounds next.

"We've been in the gym, and we've been working on new things," Vargas said. "I knew when I turned southpaw, I saw it in (Mills') face (he was surprised). He walked right into my straight left. I knew how he was going to fight. We just had to stick to the game plan."

A straight left dropped Mills hard about 45 seconds in and Vargas swarmed with a follow-up flurry after Mills rose, prompting referee Ricky Gonzalez to step in and wave it off as Mills was driven to the floor a second time in the round.

Another impressive performance. But another quick intervention.

"How talented is this young man," analyst Sergio Mora said.

Vargas' corner team said the fighter working as a southpaw was a strategic decision that he's apparently committed to for the whole fight. He's countering well with the left hand to the body and scoring well with the right as the lead hand. A check right hook dropped Mills as he lunged in with about 30 seconds left, though Mills rose and easily survived.

Vargas is fighting much differently than his uber-aggressive father, using lateral movement in spots and prompting Mills to commit to shots before delivering sharp counters with the lead right hand. Mills connected with a solid right about two minutes in that drew a reaction from the crowd, though Vargas answered with a check right hook moments later.

Vargas, typically a right-hander, came out as a southpaw and landed well to the body with the left hand. Mills, though, remained aggressive with shots that were wider and slower. Vargas landed three straight lefts just before the bell that probably clinched the round on the scorecards.

JuanMa Lopez was a tough act to follow, but Emiliano Vargas will try.

The unbeaten 22-year-old son of former 154-pound champion Fernando Vargas is in the co-main event in Brooklyn and will face once-beaten Bryce Mills in a 10-rounder at junior welterweight.

Vargas is 17-0 with 14 KOs since turning pro four years ago.

The post-fight interview was longer than the fight.

"It was a nice round. We probably wanted a couple more," Whittaker said. "But when you hit him like that, that was all she wrote. When 'The Surgeon's' in there, we get surgical, baby."

The win was his fourth fight with trainer Andy Lee, and he's won all by knockout.

"This guy is gonna go on and be another superstar in the sport," promoter Eddie Hearn said. "Remember the name, America."

Whittaker landed an overhand right on Rivera's left ear just before the bell to end Round 1, but Rivera rose and was able to walk to his corner.

It was over early in the second, though, when Whittaker landed a counter left hook on the chin for another knockdown. Rivera wobbled as he stood and referee Michael Griffin waved it off with some protest 27 seconds in .

Good performance. But a quick hook prevented a viral KO highlight.

Whittaker's opponent, Richard "Popeye" Rivera, is strolling to the ring with a sailor hat and a pipe, and he was presented spinach in the locker room as a gift.

Next up is a 10-rounder at light heavyweight that serves as the U.S. debut for UK fan favorite Ben Whittaker, who's 11-0-1 with 8 KOs.

The 2020 Olympian is 6'3" with a 75-inch reach and said he's eager to win this one impressively and then return to headline a card.

Tucker gets a shoulder full of regional sanctioning body belts via majority decision, with one judge seeing it dead even at 95-95 while the other two were 97-93 and 98-92 in his favor.

"I definitely feel like I did enough," Tucker said. "I feel like I controlled the fight. I really wanted to punch him in the mouth to show him that I wasn't f**king around."

Cedeno looked better in the 10th than he had in several previous rounds, finally eschewing the hard power shots for quick combinations of his own. Probably too little, too late.

B/R has it 96-94 for Tucker

Cedeno's corner team seemed particularly desperate between rounds, encouraging their man to move forward with straight shots, rather than the wide hooks he's preferred. Cedeno landed a decent left hook about two minutes in, but Tucker replied with a stinging one-two combination, illustrative of the fight as a whole.

Both fighters had thrown and landed with close to the same frequency through seven rounds, but Cedeno is having a hard time cutting the ring off as the fight progresses, making it look more and more like a boxing lesson.

The pace has slowed a bit, and the punches are coming more in singles than combinations but Tucker remains successful because of his hand speed and work rate.

Cedeno is controlling the territory, which could be effective in swaying the judges, but Tucker continues to use lateral movement and remains busier.

Mannix has Tucker up, 4-2 in rounds.

Tucker still looks faster with the hands and feet and he did particularly well in the fifth making Cedeno miss with his slower, powerful shots.

Tucker was busier and more effective with footwork in Round 4, lashing Cedeno with combinations that were flashy if not devastating. Cedeno looked slower by comparison and didn't land in the volume that he had in earlier rounds.

Analyst Chris Mannix has it 38-38 after four.

Another competitive round with Cedeno coming forward with hard shots as Tucker moved and landed with more volume. Cedeno landed body shots in the final minute that seemed to affect Tucker, who was having a hard time holding Cedeno off.

Cedeno continued to move forward and threw hard jabs and crosses from a southpaw stance. Tucker moved laterally, more than he had in the first round. A better round for Cedeno.

Tucker came out fast and blistered Cedeno with rapid one-two combinations, but he didn't land anything significant. Cedeno replied with single shots and stayed on the front foot with a high guard. Tucker's round, but not as dominant as it might have been.

The music has begun to accompany ring walks for Jahi Tucker and Euri Cedeno, who'll meet in a 10-rounder at middleweight to start the main card.

Tucker is 16-1-1 with 7 KOs and Cedeno is 14-0-1 with 12 KOs.

"Someone's gonna go down," analyst Sergio Mora said. "This is gonna be a quick fight."

Lopez hadn't shown the same pop with his punches as his old man before tonight, but he spiked to 6-0 and scored a third KO with a pretty right-left combo that dumped Motos to floor and kept him there.

Official time was 2:05 of the first round.

"It's great," Lopez said. "We're going to do great things in the future. We're ready for everything."

Juanma Lopez, the son of former two-division champ Juan Manuel Lopez, takes on Alberto Matos in a six-rounder at junior bantamweight to wrap up the prelims.

Lopez is 5-0 with 2 KOs.

An entertaining scrap across eight, with Rodriguez grinding and firing shots while Thompson worked from distance and landed consistently cleaner blows.

Thompson got a split decision and stayed unbeaten with scores of 79-73 and 77-75 that offset one judge who saw it for Rodriguez, 77-75.

Dennis Thompson and Edwin Rodriguez are next in the chute in the junior featherweight class.

Thompson is the A-side at 10-0 with 6 KOs, while Rodriguez is a pedestrian 12-11-3 with 5 KOs.

He got hit a few more times than he's used to and didn't get his man in an significant trouble in any of the eight rounds, but Williams did stay unbeaten with a unanimous decision by scores of 79-73 across the board.

Williams gave himself a C for the performance and cited inactivity, having not fought since last October.

He's won pretty much every minute of every round and doesn't look fatigued, but Williams is into the fifth round for the first time in his career. Stay tuned.

The prelims are getting started in a near-empty arena in Brooklyn.

First up, welterweights Jerome Baxter (7-1, 3 KO) and Quincey Williams (6-0, 6 KO) in a scheduled eight-rounder.

Williams, a highly-regarded prospect, is from the same managerial team as Xander Zayas and has never been past four rounds.