3 hrs ago
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Jaron "Boots" Ennis put on an impressive display Saturday night, earning himself a spot on The Ring's pound-for-pound top 10 list.
Ennis dropped and stopped Xander Zayas in a seven-round thriller to win the WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
The Philadelphian had to overcome adversity for the first time in his career after getting rocked in the third round, but ultimately pulled through to secure the best win of his 37-fight career.
Ennis, who turned 29 the day before his victory, is now a two-weight unified champion, with big fights against Vergil Ortiz, Sebastian Fundora and Josh Kelly on the horizon.
On the undercard, rising contenders Emiliano Vargas and Ben Whittaker impressed, each winning their respective fights by fourth and second-round TKO.
Earlier in the week, Liam Paro became a two-weight world champion by narrowly outpointing Lewis Crocker to win the IBF 147-pound strap in Brisbane, Australia.
On Sunday, in the main event of Zuffa Boxing 08, Jose Valenzuela avenged his September 2022 third-round knockout defeat to Edwin De Los Santos by stopping the Dominican in a round less at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas.
Overall there's movement in five divisions, as well as a major change to the pound-for-pound list.
*Bold/italics denotes movement in the division.
Light heavyweight
Ben Whittaker enters the list at No. 10. Umar Dzambekov exits.
C DMITRY BIVOL Russia 25-1-0 (12 KOs)
- 1 DAVID BENAVIDEZ U.S. 32-0-0 (26 KOs)
- 2 CALLUM SMITH U.K. 31-2-0 (22 KOs)
- 3 ANTHONY YARDE U.K. 27-4-0 (24 KOs)
- 4 IMAM KHATAEV Australia 12-1-0 (11 KOs)
- 5 JOSHUA BUATSI U.K. 20-1-0 (13 KOs)
- 6 WILLY HUTCHINSON U.K. 20-2-0 (14 KOs)
- 7 NAJEE LOPEZ U.S. 16-0-0 (13 KOs)
- 8 LERRONE RICHARDS U.K. 19-2-0 (4 KOs)
- 9 ALBERT RAMIREZ Venezuela 23-0-0 (19 KOs)
- 10 BEN WHITTAKER U.K. 12-0-1 (9 KOs)
Middleweight
Jahi Tucker enters the list at No. 10. Denzel Bentley exits.
C (vacant)
- 1 CARLOS ADAMES Dom. Rep. 25-1-1 (18 KOs)
- 2 YOENLI HERNANDEZ Cuba 10-0-0 (9 KOs)
- 3 ERISLANDY LARA U.S. 32-3-3 (19 KOs)
- 4 TROY ISLEY U.S. 16-0-0 (6 KOs)
- 5 ETINOSA OLIHA Italy 22-0-0 (10 KOs)
- 6 AARON MCKENNA Ireland 20-0-0 (10 KOs)
- 7 AMARI JONES U.S. 17-0-0 (15 KOs)
- 8 CHRIS EUBANK JR. U.K. 35-4-0 (25 KOs)
- 9 JESUS RAMOS JR. U.S. 24-1-0 (19 KOs)
- 10 JAHI TUCKER U.S. 17-1-1 (7 KOs)
Junior middleweight
Jaron Ennis jumps four places to the No. 1 spot. Xander Zayas drops two spots to No. 5.
C (vacant)
- 1 JARON ENNIS U.S. 36-0-0 (32 KOs)
- 2 VERGIL ORTIZ U.S. 24-0-0 (22 KOs)
- 3 SEBASTIAN FUNDORA U.S. 24-1-1 (16 KOs)
- 4 ISRAIL MADRIMOV Uzbekistan 11-2-1 (7 KOs)
- 5 XANDER ZAYAS Puerto Rico 23-1-0 (13 KOs)
- 6 JOSH KELLY U.K. 18-1-1 (9 KOs)
- 7 BAKHRAM MURTAZALIEV Russia 23-1-0 (17 KOs)
- 8 BRANDON ADAMS U.S. 26-4-0 (16 KOs)
- 9 ABASS BARAOU Germany 17-2-0 (9 KOs)
- 10 ERMAL HADRIBEAJ U.S. 23-0-1 (8 KOs)
Welterweight
Liam Paro enters the list at No. 9. Lewis Crocker drops to No. 10. Paddy Donovan exits.
C (vacant)
- 1 DEVIN HANEY U.S. 33-0-0 (15 KOs)
- 2 BRIAN NORMAN JR. U.S. 29-1-0 (23 KOs)
- 3 JACK CATTERALL U.K. 33-2-0 (14 KOs)
- 4 EIMANTAS STANIONIS Lithuania 16-1-0 (9 KOs)
- 5 RYAN GARCIA U.S. 25-2-0 (20 KOs)
- 6 ROHAN POLANCO Dom. Rep. 18-0-0 (10 KOs)
- 7 RAUL CURIEL Mexico 17-0-1 (14 KOs)
- 8 ALEXIS ROCHA U.S. 26-2-1 (16 KOs)
- 9 LIAM PARO Australia 28-1-0 (16 KOs)
- 10 LEWIS CROCKER U.K. 22-1-0 (11 KOs)
Junior lightweight
Ryan Garner jumps one place to No. 7. Eduardo Nunez drops one spot to No. 8.
C (vacant)
- 1 EMANUEL NAVARRETE Mexico 40-2-1 (33 KOs)
- 2 O’SHAQUIE FOSTER U.S. 25-3-0 (12 KOs)
- 3 ANTHONY CACACE Ireland 25-1-0 (9 KOs)
- 4 ROBSON CONCEICAO Brazil 21-3-1 (10 KOs)
- 5 CHARLY SUAREZ Philippines 18-0-0 (10 KOs)
- 6 RAYMOND FORD U.S. 18-2-1 (8 KOs)
- 7 RYAN GARNER U.K. 20-0-0 (10 KOs)
- 8 EDUARDO NUNEZ Mexico 29-2-0 (27 KOs)
- 9 JAMES DICKENS U.K. 36-6-0 (15 KOs)
- 10 HAYATO TSUTSUMI Japan 8-0-0 (5 KOs)
Pound-for-pound top 10
Jaron Ennis enters the list at No. 9. Oscar Collazo drops to No. 10. Emanuel Navarrete exits.
- 1 NAOYA INOUE Japan 33-0-0 (27 KOs)
- 2 OLEKSANDR USYK Ukraine 25-0-0 (16 KOs)
- 3 SHAKUR STEVENSON U.S. 25-0-0 (11 KOs)
- 4 JESSE RODRIGUEZ U.S. 24-0-0 (17 KOs)
- 5 DAVID BENAVIDEZ U.S. 32-0-0 (26 KOs)
- 6 DMITRY BIVOL Russia 25-1-0 (12 KOs)
- 7 JUNTO NAKATANI Japan 32-1-0 (24 KOs)
- 8 DEVIN HANEY U.S. 33-0-0 (15 KOs)
- 9 JARON ENNIS U.S. 36-0-0 (32 KOs)
- 10 OSCAR COLLAZO U.S. 15-0-0 (12 KOs)
Update
Next
Jaron Ennis: If Vergil Ortiz Gets Hit By Me, It’ll Be Different
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