Tim Bradley puts his analyst cap on to break down the upcoming super welterweight title defense between Xander Zayas and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, taking place June 27. Here Bradley shares his thoughts on what makes the matchup intriguing, with some highlighted excerpts below.
“Boots is put in a situation in this fight to where he has to show the hell up and show the hell out because there’s been so much hype and so much clout around him and he hasn’t really had the opportunity to showcase,” Bradley said. “I mean, the biggest opportunity he got was when he fought against Stanionis and he passed that with flying colors. And so, it’s like I don’t think we’ve seen the best Boots yet.
“One thing about fighters that have like a really high skill set and have the mentality of a Boots Ennis, the one thing about is us like when the competition gets better, so does our focus, so does our — everything gets sharpened, just put it that way.
“This fight right here has woken up a beast in Boots and Boots has to prove that everything that ya’ll been saying about me is real and I’m going to show you in this fight against this guy right who thinks just because he got two belts and all, that he can beat me.
“I think this is definitely the type of fight that can raise somebody’s game in like Xander Zayas as well. But he’s not afraid, I can tell you that much. Xander is not afraid and he truly believes in his heart that he can beat Boots. And it’s going to be truly amazing to see what happens on that night.”
