It wasn’t evident in his superb performance, but Ennis himself sensed squeezing down to 147 pounds one last time impacted him even more than his promoter estimated.

“For the Stanionis fight, I was less than [50 percent],” Ennis told The Ring. “I feel I didn’t really get to show too much. I was just in there having fun, but I wasn’t in my groove.”

The faster, smarter, stronger Ennis’ exceptional arsenal was entirely too much for the previously unbeaten Stanionis, whose corner men stopped their fight after six one-sided rounds at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Ennis hurt the former champion with a left to the body before he sent Stanionis to the canvas with three straight left uppercuts to his head late in the sixth round. He was ahead 60-53 on all three scorecards when their scheduled 12-rounder ended.

The difficulty Ennis experienced making weight for the Stanionis contest convinced him to move up to the junior middleweight limit of 154 pounds for his following fight. His division debut lasted less than a round, but Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs, 1 NC) will encounter a much more formidable foe Saturday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn in WBA/WBO champ Xander Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs) than he did when he needed only 1:58 to knock out overmatched Uisma Lima (16-2 11 KOs) on October 11 in his hometown of Philadelphia.

Ennis isn’t sure, however, if the Puerto Rican-born Zayas is better than Stanionis, from whom he won the WBA welterweight title.

“I feel like Stanionis is a tougher, more rugged fighter than Xander,” Ennis said. “I think Xander is a little bit more sharper. I think Stanionis got a little bit better jab. But you can’t really compare the two guys. You know, one is at ’47 and one is at ’54, so they got a lot of different things about them. I’m just excited to be in this weight division. I feel real healthy. I feel better. I’m way stronger and I’m ready to show out.”

Hearn anticipates the former Ring, IBF and WBA welterweight champ will earn more credit for defeating Zayas than he received for his impressive victory over Lithuania’s Stanionis (16-1, 9 KOs, 1 NC).

“I think Xander is a better fighter than Stanionis,” Hearn told The Ring. “He’s a more talented fighter. But Stanionis is very good and very tough. I don’t think Boots got the credit he deserved for beating Stanionis in the way that he did because people weren’t as aware of Stanionis as they should’ve been.”

Ennis, who will turn 29 on Friday, is listed by DraftKings as a 5-1 favorite over the 23-year-old Zayas.

Subscribers to DAZN’s Ultimate plan, which costs $49.99 per month in the United States and £24.99 in the United Kingdom, have access to the Zayas-Ennis show for no additional charge. The main portion of the card, set to begin at 8 p.m. ET and 1 a.m. BST, is available via DAZN Pay-Per-View to non-subscribers ($74.99 in the U.S.; £24.99 in the UK).