The faster, sharper, stronger challenger mostly picked apart Zayas and dropped him once apiece in the first, fifth and seventh rounds before referee Harvey Dock stopped a main event DAZN streamed worldwide from Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Dock halted their compelling clash at 1:49 of the seventh after a blistering assault by Ennis sent Zayas to one knee.

Zayas was unbelievably brave and even buzzed Ennis in the third round, but a resilient Ennis recovered and demonstrated why he was a 6-1 favorite by the time their bout began.

Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs, 1 NC) became champion in a second weight class and took the WBA and WBO 154-pound titles from Zayas (23-1, 13 KOs). The Philadelphia native fought for just the second time at the junior middleweight limit after relinquishing his Ring, IBF and WBA welterweight titles a year ago.

“I was enjoying myself,” Ennis told DAZN’s Chris Mannix. “I was having fun, you know, putting on a show for the fans, and I got the job done. I appreciate Xander Zayas for taking this because he didn’t have to. A great, young, hungry champion. He gonna be champ again.”

The 29-year-old Ennis handily defeated an unbeaten champion for the second time in his past three fights. He dominated Eimantas Stanionis for six one-sided rounds in their welterweight title unification fight 14 months ago at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Ennis was unable to get down to 147 pounds in a healthy way after he defeated Stanionis, but he’ll pursue junior middleweight title unification fights against WBC champ Sebastian Fundora and IBF champ Josh Kelly now that he has dethroned Zayas.

Zayas could’ve taken an easier assignment after he added the WBA belt to his WBO championship January 31, when he edged Germany’s Abass Baraou by split decision in San Juan.

He insisted on defending his titles versus Ennis, which drew widespread praise because the 23-year-old champion embraced the type of risk others would’ve avoided. It turned out to be a matchmaking mistake for a fighter who was ranked No. 3 in The Ring’s junior middleweight top 10, two spots atop Ennis.

Prior to ending the bout in the seventh round, Ennis didn’t do much offensively in the sixth after expending a lot of energy trying to knock out Zayas in the fifth. The defending champion tried to stay away from him for three minutes and regained his senses.

A New York State Athletic Commission physician examined Zayas before he allowed him to start the sixth round. The former champion took a brutal beating in the fifth, but bravely fought on.

A counter right uppercut by Ennis knocked Zayas the canvas for the second time with just over 1:20 on the clock in the fifth round. Zayas barely beat Dock’s count this time and took an enormous amount of punishment prior to the bell sounding.

After fighting through the first obvious signs of adversity of his 10-year pro career in the third round, Ennis unloaded an array of power punches to Zayas’ head during the fourth round. Zayas also landed rights to Ennis’ head later in the fourth, when both fighters dug to the body.

Zayas landed a left to Ennis’ body early in round three, which was an indication of what was to come later in the frame. Zayas caught Ennis with a right hand that knocked him backward and seemed to affect him with just under 1:40 to go in the third.

Ennis looked to hold a few times thereafter, but mostly traded with Zayas until the third round ended. Ennis regained his senses enough to fight back, but Zayas clearly was back in a fight that appeared as if it would end early.

“That was just me being lazy a little bit on the inside,” Ennis said. “I gotta go sharpen that up. Don’t even worry about it.”

Zayas didn’t take as many punches in the second round as he did during the first three minutes of action, but he wasn’t effectively offensively, either.

Ennis’ straight left followed by a quick right hook caused a delayed reaction and knocked Zayas to the canvas for the first time in 24 professional fights with a little over a minute to go in the first round. Zayas answered Dock's count quickly and remained on his feet for the remainder of the round.

The former champion couldn’t contend with Ennis’ hand speed and power and took a lot more punishment over the next five-plus rounds.

“I showed tonight that when you dream big, sometimes you come up short,” Zayas said. “But it’s part of the journey. Congratulations to Boots. He did what he needed to do and he deserved the victory tonight.

“I’m happy with my performance. It was not what I was expecting, not what I trained for. But I knew I had one of the best in the game in front of me and it’s part of the business.”