Jude Bellingham scored one goal and set up another to ensure England qualified for the World Cup knockout rounds as group winners on Saturday with a laboured 2-0 victory over Panama in New Jersey.

Bellingham provided the crucial breakthrough for England with a 62nd-minute goal at a rainswept MetLife Stadium and then provided the cross for Harry Kane to double England’s advantage minutes later and seal top spot in Group L.

Until Bellingham’s intervention, England had looked to be heading for another lacklustre stalemate following their 0-0 draw with Ghana in their second group game.

But the Three Lions’ victory means they will now face one of the best third-placed teams in the last 32 in Atlanta on Wednesday, rather than a potential meeting with Portugal in the knockout rounds.

Read moreWorld Cup 2026: Group standings

 

Croatia meanwhile made sure of claiming second place in the group behind England with a 2-1 victory over Ghana in Philadelphia.

Petar Sucic and Nikola Vlasic scored the goals for Croatia, as Ghana were forced to settle for third.

Kane moves past Lineker

Kane’s third goal of the tournament, after his brace in the opening 4-2 win over Croatia, means the England captain has now moved clear of Gary Lineker as his country’s all-time leading World Cup scorer with 11.

Three of those goals came when England thrashed Panama 6-1 at the 2018 tournament in Russia, but the Three Lions did not have things quite so easy this time against hard-working but limited opponents.

Questions were perhaps being asked about England’s World Cup prospects an hour into this match, following the goalless draw against Ghana in Boston last Tuesday.

They have not yet reached the same heights again as in their victory against Croatia, but England advance to the next round on top of the group with seven points out of a possible nine.

Topping the section is important, as it means they avoid a possible clash with Spain in the last 16.

Instead they will head to Atlanta for a tie next Wednesday, July 1 against a third-placed team. Win that, and they will be off to Mexico City in the last 16, possibly to play Mexico, in the Azteca Stadium where they lost to Diego Maradona’s Argentina in 1986.

Read morePelé’s third, Baggio’s miss and the ‘Hand of God’: Iconic World Cups in Mexico and the US

Tuchel will not be getting carried away thinking that far ahead, and there is surely a lot for England still to do before they are truly ready to take on and beat the tournament’s other heavyweights.

That said, it is unlikely they will come up against any more sides who play with such a low defensive block as Ghana did, and as Panama did for much of this contest.

The Central American nation, ranked 34th in the world, competed well but created few chances and have still never won a point at the tournament.

They lost all three group games at their debut World Cup in 2018, and go out after losing all three matches this time — all without scoring, with this result following 1-0 reverses against Ghana and Croatia.

Rashford to the fore

Tuchel made five changes to his line-up following the Ghana encounter, notably choosing to rest Declan Rice from the midfield. Marcus Rashford and Saka got their first starts of the World Cup on the wings.

Rashford forced a good save from Panama goalkeeper Orlando Mosquera inside the opening 10 minutes, and later headed over an Elliot Anderson cross before curling a free-kick just past in first-half stoppage time.

Panama did also threaten once in the opening period, when Jordan Pickford had to get down to stop a Jose Luis Rodriguez shot at his near post.

England were pedestrian before the break, but the match started to open up for them following the restart.

Jose Cordoba nearly forced an own goal when his clearance came off teammate Andres Andrade and went narrowly over, and Mosquera then denied Kane.

A goal was beginning to feel inevitable and it arrived on 62 minutes as Bellingham held off Jorge Gutierrez at Saka’s corner to turn the ball in.

That was his second goal of the competition, and he then turned provider for Kane to make sure of the win.

Jose Fajardo then thought he had a late consolation for Panama, but his effort was disallowed for offside.

It has probably been England’s least remarkable group-stage showing at a World Cup since 2014, when they went out in the first round. This time, however, they are safely through.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Zimbabwe vs Bangladesh Live Score: Zimbabwe captain Richard Ngarava has won the toss and elected to bowl first against Bangladesh in the one-off Test in Harare. With plenty of grass on the surface, the hosts are backing their seam attack to make early inroads.

Ngarava explains toss decision

“We are going to bowl first. We know these conditions well, with a bit of grass on the wicket, we want to bowl first,” said Zimbabwe captain Richard Ngarava.

On leading the side, he added: “There are no nerves. You don’t become a leader in one or two days, it’s long coming. We had a preparation camp that lasted almost two months.”

Shanto wanted to bowl too

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto admitted he would also have chosen to bowl first.

“We would have bowled first, but it doesn’t matter if we bat properly for the first two hours. There is some moisture in the wicket and the new ball will be challenging with extra bounce,” he said.

Shanto confirmed Bangladesh are playing one spinner, Taijul Islam, along with three seamers.

Pitch report | Early help for pacers

The pitch at Harare is expected to favour the fast bowlers early on.

“It’s a nice spread of grass with good coverage. The seamers will have a big say in the first hour if they keep hitting the right areas,” said commentator Athar Ali Khan in his pitch report.

He also advised batters to stay patient, saying it’s a five-day game and there is plenty of time to build an innings.

Ben Curran confident after long break

Zimbabwe opener Ben Curran believes the break from Test cricket has helped him work on his game.

“I’ve had a few months to simplify my game and focus on the basics. I had good preparation with net sessions and time in the middle. I’ve also worked on my batting skills and technique,” he said.

Playing XIs announced

Zimbabwe: Ben Curran, Innocent Kaia, Brendan Taylor, Brian Bennett, Craig Ervine, Tafadzwa Tsiga (wk), Wessly Madhevere, Brad Evans, Newman Nyamhuri, Richard Ngarava (capt), Blessing Muzarabani.

Bangladesh: Najmul Hossain Shanto (capt), Mahmudul Hasan Joy, Shadman Islam, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Towhid Hridoy, Amite Hasan (wk), Taijul Islam, Hasan Mahmud, Khaled Ahmed, Ebadot Hossain.

Great Britain’s Ben Whittaker marked his American debut with an impressive second-round victory against Richard Rivera at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The flamboyant Whittaker dropped the American at the end of the first round with a right hand, although Rivera pointed that the punch had caught him on the back of the head.

But Whittaker, nicknamed ‘The Surgeon’, clinically caught his rival with a left-hander at the start of the second and, although Rivera staggered to his feet, the referee stopped the light-heavyweight bout.

The win improved Whittaker’s record to 12 wins and a draw from his 13 professional fights, while Rivera suffered the third defeat of his 30 fight career.

“Brooklyn, that’s how you do it man,” said Midlands boxer Whittaker, who is renowned for his showboating and did a little dance at the end of the first round on the way back to his corner.

The fight took place on the undercard of Xander Zayas, who attempted to defend his WBA and WBO super-welterweight titles against Jaron Ennis.

But Zayas succumbed to a seventh-round stoppage, with the referee ending the contest after the Puerto Rican boxer had been knocked down for a third time in the fight.

It was the first defeat Zayas had suffered in his 24-fight career, while unbeaten American Ennis has 36 wins from as many fights.

Iyo Sky and Liv Morgan met in the Queen of the Ring final on Saturday at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia with the opportunity of a championship match at SummerSlam.

Morgan had the benefit of already being the women’s world champion going into the match. If she won, she would earn a shot at Rhea Ripley’s WWE Women’s Championship at SummerSlam in August. If Sky won, she would need to choose between Morgan and Ripley.

COMPLETE PRO WRESTLING COVERAGE ON FOX NEWS DIGITAL

Unfortunately for Morgan, Danhausen addressed the champion and put a “curse” on her. Morgan and her Judgment Day cronies tried to bribe Danhausen to put curses on their opponents. When Morgan told Danhausen he owed them money, Danhausen brushed it off and put the hex on her. Morgan responded with a slap and brush off of the voodoo.

As the match started and progressed through the night, the WWE Universe may have really started to buy into the curse. Morgan did her best to try to put Sky away. She went to the high-rent district but Sky got up and countered.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Sky hit Morgan with a Spanish Fly and then set her up for the Over the Moonsault. She nailed it perfectly and pinned Morgan for the victory.

Sky is the Queen of the Ring.

She spoke to Byron Saxton after the match and wasted no time declaring her intentions to go after the Women’s World Championship.

“Liv, I’ll see you at SummerSlam,” Sky said.

Just like that, Sky vs. Morgan was the first match set for SummerSlam. The two-day event takes place at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Aug. 1 and 2.

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Sky has already held the WWE Women’s Championship and the Women’s World Championship one time each. A win in August would make her a three-time champion.

The 2026 World Cup is storming towards the knockout stages after this year’s bumper 48-team tournament had its first culling.

After a build-up that centred on controversy, greed and conflict, fans have been captivated by some enthralling performances and disappointed by others, with the likes of France and holders Argentina stamping their marks as rightful favourites, while England, Portugal and Brazil have all made slight missteps.

But the group stage is only the beginning – history will be written on the road to the final, with 32 remaining teams now raring to sink their teeth into the drama of knockouts football.

Here’s how every team in the knockout stages stacks up in The Independent’s World Cup 2026 power rankings, delving deeper into the top 10:

Rankings are based on a combination of performance and potential at the 2026 World Cup, as well as how teams are faring relative to pre-tournament expectations:

1. France 🇫🇷 ↔️

There was a slightly slow start for France (emphasis on slightly) as they failed to impress in their first half against Senegal. However, they sparked into life in the second half, showing off the depth of attacking talent that made them one of the pre-tournament favourites. Kylian Mbappe was a big part of that improved spell, scoring twice en route to a 3-1 win, and he did the same again in the 3-0 victory over Iraq.

That saw him surpass Miroslav Klose’s 16 all-time World Cup goals, but unfortunately for the France forward, someone else had done the same a few hours earlier – and by a greater margin…

Mbappe failed to add to his tally in their group finale against Norway, with qualification already in the bag. Instead, his compatriot stole the show, with Ousmane Dembele bagging a hat-trick in a 4-1 win. Didier Deschamps’ side are firing on all cylinders at the moment – no team will want to face them.

2. Argentina 🇦🇷 ↔️

This World Cup has been the Lionel Messi show so far. Turning 39 this week, he faced questions about whether he could be as influential as he was during Argentina’s 2022 title-winning run; he has answered those questions emphatically. He scored all three goals in the opening 3-0 win over Algeria, then he scored both of his side’s goals in the 2-0 dismissal of Austria and came off the bench to net his sixth of the tournament in a 3-1 triumph over Jordan – becoming the first man to score in seven consecutive World Cup matches. Although he missed a penalty before that double against Austria, he should be commended for his resilience in finding the net thereafter to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer (19 goals).

Now, you could suggest that Argentina’s one flaw so far is looking a little bit reliant on their ageing captain, but the team has played well in general to serve him as best as possible, and we know how much quality the defending champions have. It might just show, beyond Messi’s individual magic, as the tournament progresses.

3. Spain 🇪🇸 ↔️

Spain are into the swing of things now, after that frustrating opening 0-0 draw with Cape Verde.

It took Lamine Yamal just 10 minutes of his first World Cup start against Saudi Arabia to follow in the footsteps of the other global superstars at this tournament and join the goalscoring party, getting the ball rolling for a 4-0 win that properly got La Roja off the mark. They then ensured they topped the group with a spicy win over a collapsing Uruguay side.

Yet to concede a goal as they head into the knockouts, there is no reason to remove the favourites tag bestowed upon Spain before the World Cup began, despite that early shock. They slipped up in their opening match of the 2010 World Cup (losing 1-0 to Switzerland) as well before recovering and going on to win it, remember.

4. England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 ↔️

England haven’t exactly set the world ablaze since stoking expectation in their impressive opening win against Croatia. Their drab goalless draw versus Ghana was the exact sort of game that led to the phrase “reality check” being used in a footballing sense, and while they bounced back from that result with a 2-0 win against Panama to top the group, it was hardly the most inspiring performance.

Nevertheless, Thomas Tuchel’s side are through as group winners and have done enough to avoid a side of the draw that could have pitted them against Portugal and then Spain in their first two knockout matches. Jude Bellingham is performing while Harry Kane’s three goals very much puts him in golden boot contention, so don’t go burning your “It’s Coming Home” t-shirts just yet.

5. Brazil 🇧🇷 ⬆️

After their sluggish opening performance against Morocco, things have begun to click for Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil. A delightful outing against an easier opponent in Haiti saw them get their first win of the tournament, but it was Scotland where that fear factor really kicked in.

Vinicius Jr bagged a brace while Matheus Cunha kept up his goalscoring form at this World Cup, dismantling the Scots in a 3-0 win to basically send them packing. The result completed their group-stage recovery as they topped Group C.

There is work to do defensively heading into the knockouts and the injury to Raphinha is concerning, but Brazil are definitely growing into this World Cup, with Ancelotti’s dangermen up and firing.

6. Portugal 🇵🇹 ⬆️

Caveat it all with the quality of opposition – and boy were Uzbekistan poor – but that 5-0 win in their second group game is the levels Roberto Martinez will want his Portugal side to hit from here. They were more fluid and showed some depth behind Cristiano Ronaldo with the way they kept pushing for more even once the substitutes arrived. That was much better than their uninspiring opening 1-1 draw with DR Congo, while they finished the gorup with one of the most entertaining 0-0s you could wish to see against Colombians. It wasn’t perfect, and they would have lost but for Davinson Sanchez’s late goal being ruled out, but that spark was still present for the Portuguese. Croatia in the last 32 presents an intriguing test before a potentially monumental last-16 clash against Iberian rivals Spain.

7. Netherlands 🇳🇱 ⬆️

Few doubted the quality of their defence and midfield pre-tournament but now Brian Brobbey seems to be the answer to Ronald Koeman’s centre-forward puzzle. The Sunderland striker has struck three times in the last two group games, powering them to the top of Group F. Heading into the knockouts, the most renowned nation to have never become world champions may be more than just a dark horse in this tournament.

8. Morocco 🇲🇦 ⬇️

The Afcon (sort of) champions impressed with their draw against Brazil and if nothing else they will remember this World Cup for Ismael Saibari’s goal just 70 seconds into a hard-fought 1-0 win over a gritty Scotland. But the world’s seventh-ranked side showed their first real jitters against already-eliminated Haiti, falling behind twice in the first half before recovering to win 4-2.

Failing to score big against the Caribbean minnows has proved costly, with their second-place finish in Group C meaning they face a very tough round of 32 test against the Netherlands to begin their knockouts campaign. The Atlas Lions have looked dangerous so far this tournament but in their bid to prove that their run to the semi-finals in 2022 wasn’t a fluke, the Dutch will seriously test their credentials.

9. Germany 🇩🇪 ⬇️

Germany are into the knockouts for the first time since winning the tournament in 2014, and they’re through as group winners which should signal the end of an era of failure on the global stage. However, they’re yet to properly prove they are once again real contenders.

Their opening 7-1 win over debutants Curacao was impressive but had to be taken with a pinch of salt given the level of opposition. Ivory Coast were tricky opponents and Julian Nagelsmann’s side found it difficult to finish clear chances, at least until Deniz Undav’s arrival, who snatched a last-gasp winner. But against Ecuador, they showed their fallibility, beaten by a team who simply wanted it more despite taking an early (and controversial) lead.

There are still a lot of questions to be asked surrounding their depth, team choices and whether goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 40, is still up to the task. Those will be answered in the knockouts.

10. Mexico 🇲🇽 ⬆️

Taking the spot of their noisy upstairs neighbours in the top 10 heading into the knockouts, Mexico have hardly put a foot wrong in the early stages of their home World Cup. They’ve recorded three wins on the trot to top their group but their credentials as “dark horses” will be tested against Ecuador in the round of 32, who come into the match off the stunning high of a win over Germany. Get through that and England could await them at the Azteca… what an occasion that would be.

Teams 11-32

11. Croatia

12. Colombia

13. USA

14. Norway

15. Japan

16. Switzerland

17. Egypt

18. Ecuador

19. Ivory Coast

20. Belgium

21. Austria

22. Sweden

23. Senegal

24. Ghana

25. Canada

26. Australia

27. Algeria

28. Cape Verde

29. Bosnia and Herzegovina

30. South Africa

31. Paraguay

32. DR Congo

Eliminated

Czech Republic

Qatar

Haiti

Turkey

Curacao

Tunisia

New Zealand

Uruguay

Saudi Arabia

Iraq

Jordan

Panama

Scotland

South Korea

Iran

The 2026 Travelers Championship continues on Sunday with the final round at TPC River Highlands. You can find full Travelers Championship tee times for Sunday’s final round at the bottom of this post.

Travelers Championship tee times: What to know

Scottie Scheffler and Viktor Hovland rode hot second rounds to the top of the leaderboard entering the weekend and they stayed there on Saturday at TPC River Highlands.

Scheffler, who came within inches of shooting 59 on Friday, got off to a slow start. The World No. 1 was even through 10 holes but then hit the gas, making birdies at 11, 13, 14 and 15 to grab a one-shot lead over Hovland, who spent most of the day matching him shot for shot.

Then came the 18th hole.

Both Scheffler and Hovland found the fairway but Scheffler’s approach settled 25 feet from the hole on the fringe. Hovland, meanwhile, stuffed his approach to six feet. Scheffler’s chip ran eight feet past the hole, and he missed the comebacker to drop into a momentary tie for first with Hovland. But the Norwegian rolled in the six-foot birdie putt to get to 20 under for the tournament and take a one-shot lead into Sunday.

“It was really fun. Just had a great time,” Hovland said of battling Schffler. “You know, it’s been a while since I’ve been in this position. You know, to go head-to-head against the best player in the world and pull off some great shots, it was just a lot of fun.”

Scheffler and Hovland will play together again on Sunday. The pair will go off at 2:55 p.m. ET.

You can watch early coverage of Sunday’s final round of the 2026 Travelers Championship from 1-3 p.m. ET on Golf Channel, followed by the NBC broadcast from 3-6 p.m. ET. PGA Tour Live on ESPN+ will provide exclusive early streaming coverage starting on Sunday, in addition to featured group and featured hole coverage.

Check out the complete Round 4 tee times and pairings for the Travelers Championship below.

Hoping to wager on the Travelers Championship? Sign up for Fanatics Sportsbook with code “SUBPAR” to receive a special welcome offer.

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2026 Travelers Championship tee times for Saturday: Round 3 (ET)

Tee No. 1

8:45 a.m. — Gary Woodland, Sepp Straka
8:55 a.m. — Ryan Fox, Jordan Spieth
9:05 a.m. — Lucas Glover, Mark Hubbard
9:15 a.m. — Cameron Young, Min Woo Lee
9:25 a.m. — Sam Stevens, Alex Smalley
9:35 a.m. — Taylor Pendrith, Sahith Theegala
9:45 a.m. — Ryan Gerard, Jhonattan Vegas
9:55 a.m. — Andrew Novak, Ludvig Aberg
10:10 a.m. — Adam Scott, Jacob Bridgeman
10:20 a.m. — Alex Noren, J.T. Poston
10:30 a.m. — Jason Day, Harry Hall
10:40 a.m. — Brandt Snedeker, Jake Knapp
10:50 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, Tony Finau
11:00 a.m. — Brian Campbell, Nicolai Hojgaard
11:10 a.m. — Ben James, Michael Kim
11:25 a.m. — Mac Meissner, Rickie Fowler
11:35 a.m. — Maverick McNealy, Nick Taylor
11:45 a.m. — Harris English, Keegan Bradley
11:55 a.m. — Tom Hoge, Daniel Berger
12:05 p.m. — Matt McCarty, Ryo Hisatsune
12:15 p.m. — Kurt Kitayama, Tommy Fleetwood
12:25 p.m. — Denny McCarthy, Nico Echavarría
12:40 p.m. — Bud Cauley, Russell Henley
12:50 p.m. — Kristoffer Reitan, Corey Conners
1:00 p.m. — Sungjae Im, Aaron Rai
1:10 p.m.— J.J. Spaun, Hideki Matsuyama
1:20 p.m. — Justin Thomas, Robert MacIntyre
1:30 p.m. — Jackson Suber, Alex Fitzpatrick
1:40 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Chris Gotterup
1:55 p.m. — Brian Harman, Justin Rose
2:05 p.m. — Sam Burns, Si Woo Kim
2:15 p.m. — Eric Cole, Keith Mitchell
2:25 p.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick, Ben Griffin
2:35 p.m. — Shane Lowry, Wyndham Clark
2:45 p.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Akshay Bhatia
2:55 p.m. — Viktor Hovland, Scottie Scheffler

Hooker Peato Mauvaka scored twice as Toulouse held on to beat Montpellier 28-20 for a record-equalling fourth-straight French Top 14 rugby title in a final interrupted by a thunderstorm.

France front-rower Mauvaka crossed in a dominant first half to set the 25-time champions on their way before the game was stopped for 12 minutes just before the hour mark.

Toulouse’s generation between 1994 and 1997 as well as Bordeaux 1904-1907 have also won the Bouclier de Brennus (Brennus Shield) in four consecutive seasons.

“Experience helps in those moments,” Toulouse’s Antoine Dupont told France Televisions about the break in the game.

“You have to measure the luck you have to be here, to win four years in a row.

“It’s incredible, it will motivate us for the years to come,” the 2021 World Rugby player of the year added.

Montpellier, champions in 2022, were a different team after the break with Argentina centre Justo Piccardo and replacement fly-half Leo Coly crossing in their failed attempt at a comeback.

“We weren’t far off,” Montpellier captain Lenni Nouchi told France Televisions.

“It’s hard, it’s going to be hard to accept, but it’s reality,” the flanker added.

The game started in sweltering conditions with France experiencing record heat with temperatures reaching 34C at kick-off in northern Paris.

Read moreEngland defeat France to secure eighth consecutive Women’s Six Nations title

 

French president Emmanuel Macron was whistled by the crowd as he entered the pitch to meet the players as part of the pre-match protocol.

Toulouse head coach Ugo Mola named Thomas Ramos on the bench after the goal-kicking full-back missed last Friday’s 71-17 semi-final hammering of Racing 92 with a hamstring issue.

Superstar Dupont started after sitting out last season’s nerve-wracking decider, won in extra-time over Bordeaux-Begles, with a serious knee injury and will join France’s Nations Championship early next week.

Montpellier boss Joan Caudullo kept the same matchday squad from last Saturday’s 25-15 semi-final win over Stade Francais with in-form fly-half Domingo Miotti and No 8 Billy Vunipola starting.

By the first drinks break after a quarter of the game, Toulouse led 7-0 as Mauvaka strolled over 50m out dummying Donovan Taofifenua on his way after a subtle lineout move including Dupont.

Fightback

Toulouse took control of the game and put one hand on the Bouclier de Brennus, first awarded in 1892, by half-time.

Mauvaka claimed his double from short range thanks to another Dupont pass before the half-back crossed himself to make it 25-6 after a break from full-back Blair Kinghorn, standing in for Ramos as Ntamack nailed a penalty.

Rain and a thunderstorm welcomed the teams back from the interval, which seemed to benefit Caudullo’s side, owned by Syria-born billionaire Mohed Altrad.

They cut the score to 28-13 just before the hour as Justo Piccardo powered over before the 12-minute weather-enforced break.

Referee Luc Ramos ordered the players into the changing rooms for an extended drinks break, which also provided a spark for Montpellier.

With 16 minutes left Coly, a second-half replacement for Miotti, found space to score and his conversion made it 28-20 but they left themselves too much to do after a slow start to the game.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Jaron “Boots” Ennis secured the pole position atop the 154-pound division on Saturday and he did it the hard way by fighting in the trenches and walking through unified champion Xander Zayas in their thrilling slugfest in Brooklyn, New York. 

Ennis (36-0, 32 KOs) exited the Barclays Center to a chorus of boos from the partisan, Puerto Rican crowd as the WBA and WBO champion after scoring a trio of knockdowns and surviving a hellacious Round 3 in which he was hurt. But after multiple rounds of toe-to-toe fighting between the two elite boxers, the corner of Zayas (23-1, 13 KOs) threw in the towel at 1:49 of Round 7 as Ennis was pouring it on.

Not only did the sublime Ennis, a native of nearby Philadelphia, get hit more than we were used to seeing, the 23-year-old Zayas showcased a strong chin and tremendous courage that raised his stock in defeat. 

“It feels tremendous,” Ennis said. “[Zayas] wanted to test himself against one of the best in the division and I commend him for that. This was a dream. I was having fun putting on a show for the fans and I got the job done. 

“It’s a blessing to be a two-time unified champion.”

The 29-year-old Ennis, who previously held a pair of titles at 147 pounds but was unable to lure any of the elite champions into fights, appeared to cement his status as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world in the biggest fight of his pro career. 

Once the naturally orthodox Ennis switched to southpaw midway through Round 1, he began to hurt Zayas with a flurry of clean combinations and uppercuts to the body. He dropped Zayas on a pair of quick left hands to build an early lead. 

But just as Ennis began to flaunt his impressive footwork and variety of attacks by dancing and showboating in Round 3, Zayas bit down on the mouthguard to eat a right hand before countering with a right of his own to the chin of Ennis to hurt him. A back-and-forth slugfest ensued in close space through Round 4 as Zayas scored big to the body and Ennis chose to stand and trade instead of holding and boxing. 

“[Ennis] hurt me a little bit in the first round so my legs went away for a couple of rounds and I needed to find them,” Zayas said. “It’s part of the business but you learn and come back and get better. I feel like I hurt him [in Round 3] and hit him with good shots but he’s a great champion.” 

Ennis took back control of the fight in Round 5 with authority as he walked down Zayas and floored him on a beautiful combination of a right hand to the body and a left uppercut. Zayas was lucky to survive the rest of the round as Harvey Dock came close to jumping in following more clean punches from Ennis.  

In Round 7, Ennis put the fight away as a flurry of clean punches forced Zayas to take a voluntary knee. Shortly after, the corner of Zayas saved their young fighter from any further damage. 

“It was an amazing night,” Zayas said. “I showed tonight that if you dream big, sometimes you come up short but it’s part of the journey. I’m happy with my performance. But congratulations to ‘Boots.’ He did what he had to do to get the victory.

“[My cornermen] are here to save me. They are here to let me live another day tomorrow. I knew it was the right decision if they made it because it was time.”

After the fight, Zayas refused to confirm the rumor that he intends to move up to middleweight next after outgrowing the division.  

“I don’t want to say that right now. I lost the fight fair and square,” Zayas said. “He won tonight. I’m not going to make any excuses about that I’m moving up in weight. I want to take some time off and not make any excuses. He won like the champion that he is and I lost like the gentleman that I am.”

Ennis, who missed out on a non-title, superfight against fellow unbeaten Vergil Ortiz Jr. earlier this year when tensions between Ortiz’s manager and promoter led to a lawsuit, remained steadfast that his goal is to unify all four recognized titles.

“Whoever [promoter] Eddie [Hearn of Matchroom Sport]  wants, that’s who we are going to get [next,]” Ennis said. “Bring on Vergil and bring on the belts. I’m here to be undisputed in this weight class so it doesn’t matter who is next because I’ll fight them all.”