Tiger Johnson, who spent three weeks training with Zayas in South Florida in April, believes the unified junior middleweight champion is being overlooked and that he can hold his own against Ennis.

Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs) is scheduled to defend his WBA and WBO 154-pound titles against Ennis (35-0, 31 KOs) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on DAZN Pay-Per-View and as part of the DAZN Ultimate Plan. 

“I think it's gonna be a lot better than what people are saying,” Johnson told The Ring. “I don't think people are giving Xander enough credit as a fighter, maybe because he's young, but Xander is a very skilled fighter, man.

"He's tough, he's strong, he’s got a lot of good attributes in his game, so this is gonna be a really good fight for the fans. I think it's gonna be one of the best fights of the year.”

Zayas, a 23-year-old Puerto Rican, became boxing’s youngest current unified champion with a split decision victory over then-WBA titleholder Abass Baraou on Jan. 31 in San Juan. Ennis, of Philadelphia, is a former unified welterweight champion and has fought once at junior middleweight, beating Uisma Lima by first-round stoppage on Oct. 11. 

Ennis, 28, is the Ring’s No. 5-ranked junior middleweight. Zayas is No. 3.

Johnson (17-0, 8 KOs) returns to the ring against fellow unbeaten welterweight prospect Christopher Guerrero (16-0, 9 KOs) on the July 4 Abdullah Mason-Joe Cordina Card in Cleveland, Johnson's hometown, on DAZN and TNT.

Johnson, who is ranked No. 9 by the WBO and No. 14 by the IBF at welterweight, believes the time spent with Zayas set the tone for his camp and will result in one of the best performances of his career. He's coming off a fourth-round stoppage of Nicklaus Flaz on Nov. 7.

“Xander, he’s a skilled fighter, and he's bigger than me, so I had to be on my 'A' game," he said. "He's fighting a big fight himself, and as I'm there, I gotta do my part of pushing him the same way he's pushing me. It was like real high-level training.

“It definitely helped me ... when it was time for me to come back out here to start my camp for my fight, because the fight got announced while I was in Florida. It was definitely a big help, preparing me for my camp.”