Ortiz, The Ring’s No. 1-ranked junior middleweight, had choice words for both during their fight.

The 28-year-old promised he would knock Ennis out if he hurt him the way Zayas managed in round three of their WBO/WBA junior middleweight unification and had a scathing message for the Puerto Rican after he was stopped.

Ennis stopped Zayas in the seventh round to become a unified champion in a second weight division on Saturday at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on DAZN PPV and as part of the DAZN Ultimate Plan.

"Xander, you looked straight to your corner after you got dropped that last time," Ortiz wrote on X. "You're a p****. You did better than I thought you were gonna do, but you're a quitter. I can't believe I just saw you do that."

Ortiz (24-0, 22 KOs) appears to be nearing a return later this year as he tries to smooth things over with Golden Boy Promotions.

Ennis-Ortiz was in the works for an April date before Golden Boy was granted a temporary restraining order, preventing the fight being made without their involvement.

He has been sidelined since his second-round stoppage of Erickson Lubin on November 8, immediately after which Ennis met him in the ring to further build a matchup brewing from when both were welterweight contenders.

Matchroom chief Eddie Hearn, who promotes Ennis, believes the Dallas native will take another fight on his return before again pursuing an Ennis fight.

The prolonged saga has only raised the stakes for what was already one of boxing's best fights with Ennis' latest achievement. This era of the junior middleweight division won't be complete if they don't fight in the near future.

Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs) appeared destined to make it an early night when he dropped Zayas (23-1, 13 KOs) in the first round. Zayas survived, and in the third round, a fight broke out.

The 23-year-old from San Juan, Puerto Rico, rocked Ennis with a left hook and a straight right hand. The Philadelphia native was in the most trouble he had ever been in as Zayas was able to rock his head back on numerous occasions with straight right hands.

"That was one of the most exciting, thrilling fights I have ever seen ringside," Hearn said.

"Round three, one of the greatest rounds I've ever seen…That was an absolutely beautiful example for the sport of boxing. There's a lot of politics and rubbish in the sport, but that's what big-time boxing was all about."

The all-out brawl continued into round four, as both connected with 20 power shots according to CompuBox punch stats. Ennis, 29, seized control once more in the fifth when dropping Zayas with a vicious right uppercut that left him badly hurt as the defending champion barely survived to the round's end.

The violent switch-hitter floored him a third time two rounds later, after which Zayas' corner stopped the fight.

"My team was speed, speed, speed," Ennis said in his post-fight interview.

"It's the shot you don't see, not the power shot. He can tense up for the power shot. I wasn't listening a little bit, but started listening a little bit towards the end, and that's how I got the job done."