Bob Arum, 94, returns home to let Xander Zayas fly the nest

NEW YORK – Returning to his birthplace with a fighter he raised since his professional boxing infancy, Bob Arum says his belief in Xander Zayas trumped any consideration to take a more cautious approach with the unified junior middleweight champion.

“Well, they grow up. They grow up and time flies, and that's that's the way it should be,” Arum told BoxingScene Thursday as the 94-year-old chairman of Top Rank prepared for his first-ever visit to Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, where Puerto Rico’s Zayas, 23-0 (13 KOs), will meet former unified welterweight champion Jaron “Boots” Ennis, 35-0 (31 KOs), in a DAZN pay-per-view Saturday night.

“I'm not surprised by Xander… he did whatever he was supposed to do, growing up as a man, as a fighter. He's looked very good in his last few fights, and I give him a lot of credit.”

At just 23, with the opportunities to fight others or perhaps return home for a Puerto Rico showcase, Zayas instead is meeting one of the most avoided talents in the sport.

And instead of invoking his occasional tendency to pause or “marinate” a glamour showdown ripe for the making, Arum is permitting this one to occur.

“Because Xander has seen his progress, and he’s not somebody who is going to shy from a difficult fight,” Arum said. “He wanted this fight. We would have preferred for him to have an easier road, but you have to respect the kid.

“Just like he came to us at 16 wanting to turn pro, feeling he was more mature than an average 16-year-old, he feels he's ready now.”

There’s also a theory that Zayas knows his growing body may force him to move up to the middleweight before long, so he wants to test himself against the best available 154lbs fighter while he can.

“I think that's a very good observation. Xander is growing into a relatively big person, and probably he'll stop at 160 and he'll end up fighting at super middleweight or light heavyweight one day,” Arum said.

Zayas’ confidence and developing skill seen in consecutive 154lbs WBO and WBA title fights make him a live underdog, Arum said.

“I give him a good chance because he has a lot of skills. He’s bigger than ‘Boots.’ ‘Boots’ hasn’t been really active – one round in more than a year.

“So this is a good opportunity for Xander to win a fight like this. Am I completely confident that he'll do it? No. But I think he has a good chance.”

The bout has a full-circle feel for Arum, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, where he attended the same Erasmus Hall High School that counts Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond and Al Davis as former students.

Since Top Rank has staged so many of its fights over the past decades at Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, Arum has never set foot inside Barclays Center.

Saturday night, he returns home, sending his young champion out to explore the great big world.