The Last Stand with Brian Custer
Step inside the ring of conversation with The Last Stand with Brian Custer — the show where sports’ biggest names come to talk real. Hosted by award-winning sportscaster Brian Custer, one of the most respected voices in the game, this podcast delivers raw, unfiltered interviews with today’s top boxing champions and legends across all sports.
Brian’s career spans decades of excellence — from anchoring some of the most iconic broadcasts to calling the biggest fights in the world. His insightful questions, undeniable presence, and deep sports knowledge have earned him multiple awards and a reputation as one of the most trusted voices in sports media.
A prostate cancer survivor, Brian brings more than just journalism to the mic — he brings perspective, resilience, and authenticity. Whether it’s fighters, athletes, or cultural figures, The Last Stand gets past the headlines and into the human story.
🔥 New episodes weekly — honest talk, powerful moments, and unforgettable conversations.
The Last Stand with Brian Custer
🥊 Xander Zayas: Puerto Rico’s Champion on Boots Ennis, Titles & Legacy 🇵🇷🔥
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🚨 PREMIERING MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2026 • 9AM ET 🚨
At just 23 years old, Puerto Rico’s own Xander Zayas has already become one of boxing’s brightest stars and a unified world champion. Undefeated, confident, and carrying the hopes of a new generation of Puerto Rican boxing fans, Zayas joins The Last Stand ahead of the biggest fight of his career.
In this exclusive interview, Xander discusses:
🏆 Becoming a unified champion at a young age
🔥 The pressure of carrying boxing’s rich Puerto Rican tradition
💯 Remaining undefeated while facing elite competition
👊 His June 27 showdown with Jaron “Boots” Ennis
🎯 Why he’s confident he’ll leave Brooklyn with his titles intact
🚀 His future goals, legacy, and place among boxing’s elite
Xander will defend his WBA and WBO Junior Middleweight Titles against undefeated superstar Jaron “Boots” Ennis on June 27, 2026, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
👇 Drop your prediction in the comments:
Who wins — Xander Zayas or Boots Ennis?
#XanderZayas #BootsEnnis #Boxing #TheLastStand #PuertoRico #TopRank
You're watching the last stand with Brian Custer. That's right. It is the last stand. I'm Brian Custer. We bring you the biggest names in the sport. And joining me is the biggest at 154 pounds. This young man is the youngest unified champion in the sport of boxing. He's the WBA, the WBO, super welterweight champion of the world. None other than Xander Zayas is back with us on the last stand. Check. Hey, it's been four years. Can you believe it? But you back.
SPEAKER_00It's been it's been an incredible ride. But yeah, like you said, four years, a long time. But we're back here and I'm excited. Thank you for having me. Um, man, I'm happy, happy to be here.
SPEAKER_01Look, you're one of my favorites. June 27th. You're putting the belts on the line against Boots Innis. Tell me why you wanted this fight.
SPEAKER_00Man, uh, the biggest fights. That's what fighters do. I feel like it's easy to call yourself the best and not fight the best or wait for the best at the time to be out of their prime. I feel like, you know, we catch them now, we catch them early. There's no excuses. Um, there's two guys that are hungry for for success, two guys that are hungry to be the best. And and this is what happens when when when when you have two fighters that want to fight and are willing to fight.
SPEAKER_01Xander, does it upset you when I look at it in Vegas? You're the unified champ, but they've got boots in this as the favorite.
SPEAKER_00I don't I don't bet, so I don't know anything about the odds or anything. So I don't I don't pay attention to that. Numbers are numbers. Um, how many times a number fails? You know, they always fail. So it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, I I have to go out there and do what I do best, and and and I'm prepared to to do that June 27th.
SPEAKER_01Uh, they some people have compared this fight to Canelo fighting Floyd. And they said, man, he's taken it too early in his career. What's your response to that?
SPEAKER_00Well, I'm a unified world champion. For some people, I might be too early. For some others, I haven't fought nobody. I mean, I can make everybody happy. You know, at the end of the day, I gotta do what makes me happy, what I know is going to bring the best out of me, and fighting boots in this was the best option for me, and then that's why I took it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, tell me what what what went into your thinking when it came to boots and it's because at one point it was like him and Virgil, and then all of a sudden that fell apart. What was it where you said, give me boots?
SPEAKER_00Well, I was we were obviously like very like locked in on the loop and and and wanting information to see how that how that negotiation was going. Um, when we found out that that negotiation was gonna fail because of Virgil Ortiz's um legal issues, we jumped right on it. We told I told my manager that's the fight I want, and and he conveyed that that message to top rank and and the zone, and we made the fight happen. I feel like I've always wanted the big fights. I was uh before that, I was talking to Mattrum to see if I can make the Josh Kelly fight. Obviously, that didn't happen. So I was always on the lookout for a big fight. I knew that a big fight was gonna was going to be next in my career. Um, we just didn't know at the time who. So obviously Virgil Boots fell out, and we were able to make that fight happen.
SPEAKER_01Uh, do you believe the winner of this fight is the next big star of boxing?
SPEAKER_00I believe the winner of this fight um will separate themselves from from everybody at the division. Um it could be it some people can make it or make a nice argument about the next big star of boxing. But to be honest, I don't worry about that. I have to I have one job to do, and that's to go in there June 27th and win. Whatever that does, whatever that puts me, I will be happy with it. I just gotta do what I do best.
SPEAKER_01I I was listening to some of the interviews of Boots Innis, and and I want to quote him. He says, he doesn't even believe half of the stuff that he's saying. And look at him, look how big he is. He's been enjoying being a champion. He's so big right now, he's gonna have to drain himself to get down to weight. And then you put all the media stuff that he's got to deal with. I'm used to this kind of stuff. By the time we get to fight week, he's going to be drained, and fight night, he's gonna be drained because he's not used to it. Your response, Ryan.
SPEAKER_00I've been doing this since I'm 16 years old. I was I was literally in high school doing interviews. It's nothing new to me. I mean, I've been doing this my whole life and enjoying my life as a champion. I literally fought in January. Well how what life did I get to? Like, I didn't get to enjoy not even two months. I was already in camp right after. Like, you know, it's it's funny. I mean, it's funny. Some guys they gotta, they gotta put, they gotta paint this picture in their head to help them um believe what they're trying to to accomplish and what they're trying. And if that's the picture that is gonna help them um come fight night, be prepared. Well, let it be. At the end, I know what I'm doing, I know how I work, I know the work ethic I put in, I know what I bring to the table, and come jump to it. Come June 27th, I will be ready to do what I do and come out victorious.
SPEAKER_01I I was reading one interview that you did, and you said, let him keep talking. He's underestimating me. In what way, you think?
SPEAKER_00In every way, in every way necessary, every way of the word. I feel like he he feels that I I'm not at his level. That might be his feeling, but that's good. Let him think that way. Everybody that has stepped in the ring with me before have thought that way too. And 23 have tried, and 23 has failed, and he's gonna be 24.
SPEAKER_01You know, Booth said this this same thing, and I've uh I've heard some other people say this. They said, Man, I love both, I love both of these fighters, but I think Booth has too much athleticism and too strong for Xander Zayez. Your response to that.
SPEAKER_00Athleticism, well, I do the same things he does. I take angles. The only thing I don't do that he does is fight lefty. But other than that, I take angles. I'm very I'm way better than him movement-wise. Um my jab is good, my my my combinations, my counterpunching. I mean, what else can you? I mean, this there's athleticism there, you know? You don't just do that fluidly by not being athletic.
SPEAKER_01I love it. Give me the biggest advantage you believe you have in this fight over Geronimus.
SPEAKER_00Man, I feel like my patience, my jab, understanding my distance, I feel like I'm I'm very good at that. And and and knowing when to knowing when to pick up pick pick a fight, knowing when to box, knowing when to fight. I feel like he's very good at, you know, with chaos, when the when the when the crowd is erupting, when the crowd is going crazy, he's he's very good at that. He lived for those moments. When you don't give him that, it's hard for him. It's hard for him.
SPEAKER_01Biggest weakness uh you think uh in this fight for Boots in his man, um his feet he's flat-footed, he's flat-footed, and body, he doesn't he doesn't like a body that much.
SPEAKER_00So we'll see how that goes.
SPEAKER_01Um you know when you look at the 154-pound division, obviously you're the unified champ. There's another champion in Sebastian Fundora. Some have said, I think Fundora, best fighter at 154 because he's the most difficult matchup. You were supposed to be his mandatory at one point. Yeah. Do you believe that you two will fight in the future?
SPEAKER_00I hope so. I mean, that's the only thing I could I could say. I don't I don't know. I mean, I will as a champion, I want to fight everybody. As a champion, I want to fight the best of the best. But you need you need a dancing partner to be able to dance. And if he's not willing to dance, there's nothing I can do about it, you know.
SPEAKER_01What do you think about Sebastian Fundor as a fighter?
SPEAKER_00Good fighter, good fighter. He's come a long way. Um, he he has um made a lot of good adjustments in his last couple fights, started using his distance finally. Um, so I feel like he he's he's you know with experience, he's getting that experience, and then you can only get it inside that ring. I feel like I didn't understand that at the beginning of my career, but now as a as a world champion, I understand you only get experience going into it, living through your own eyes. So I feel like he he he has gotten that little by little. So he's he's becoming a way better fighter than he was maybe three, four fights ago. Who do you want next? You did this victory. What's next? Brian, there's there's nothing more I want I want more in this life than winning June 27. I'm not looking for anybody. I'm not looking forward past Gyrobu tennis. I gotta win. I gotta go out there, be focused, have fun, and come out victorious. After that, we can have another another nice episode and sit down and talk about what's next.
SPEAKER_01I like it. Uh, Kid Austin, Floyd Schofield was on the last stand just last week. He said, Xander Zayas is my guy. I'm rolling with Xander Zayas to beat Boots Ennis. Uh, the WBA has ordered Tank Davis to fight him. And tell me, and he even said, I will stop Tank Davis. That's how talented I am. What do you think about that fight?
SPEAKER_00Man, um, Floyd Floyd's a good guy, man. Floyd's a good guy. We came off from the amateur programs together. So obviously, I I appreciate him saying those words and and and rooting for me. I'm also rooting for him. He's doing also like great things with with in the sport, and and it's not the first time that he has been calling calling out big names, and that's what we do as young fighters. We want to fight the best. We're hungry to to be the best. So I'm excited to to see that fight. Um, obviously, it's gonna be a very tough matchup for both fighters, but um, Kid Austin is very athletic too, and and he does very good things inside that ring.
SPEAKER_01Um 154 is so good right now. I mean, you boots, Virgil, I mean, Kelly, Fundora, and then you got the some of the older guard in there. Uh, what do you think about Errol Spence and Tim Zoo fighting? And what do you think about that fight? Who wins that fight?
SPEAKER_00Well, I don't I don't know. I mean, I don't know. We have to see how we have to really see Errol Spence, what Errol Spence is gonna show up. You know, I don't I don't know. I mean Tim Zoo has been a bit a little bit more active, but it's not impressive. Um, I feel like the loser I think should call it a career, should call it a day. Um, that's for that's for sure. But I wouldn't be able to pick up a a winner. I mean, both guys are just not as impressive as they were maybe four years ago. Interesting.
SPEAKER_01Uh hey, I I finally got the opportunity to talk to you about this. How did you get that opportunity to be in Bad Bunny's performance during the Super Bowl?
SPEAKER_00How'd that come about? Man, um, I have a good relationship with with Benito and his team and his people. I work very closely with Rima Sports. Um so they they presented the opportunity. They said they that he wanted to be, he wanted me to have, you know, to be there in the in the Super Bowl. He had like a scene where he had two fighters and he wanted me to be one of them. So I'm like, let's do it, let's make it happen.
SPEAKER_01Are you the face of Puerto Rican boxing?
SPEAKER_00I don't know, Brian. I I feel like that's that doesn't belong to me to say. Uh it belongs to the people wherever they want to place me. I'll be happy. Um, I just want to keep representing my people and keep making them proud. That's all I care about.
SPEAKER_01You know, the one thing people always talk about your age, especially when it comes to like fights like this. But give me the one thing they're forgetting about when it comes to Xander Zayas and fights of this magnitude.
SPEAKER_00That I've been hungry my whole life. You guys have seen my progress since I'm 16 years old, now 23, sitting as a world champion. You guys seen what I've done in there, and not even that that's not even halfway to what I know I'm I'm gonna be. Um, so come June 27th. I feel like you guys are gonna see the the first version of Xander's eyes.
SPEAKER_01We'll we'll wrap it up here, real quick. Uh, but let me ask you, give me the one thing, because that press conference was something. Give me the one thing that he said that really irked you, that you said, you know what, I don't think this guy respects me, and he's disillusioned.
SPEAKER_00Man, to be honest, I I was I was just having fun that night. I didn't I didn't care about what he said. I'm not gonna care about what he says moving forward. I don't I don't know again, I don't know the guy. I don't that was my first time seeing him. That was the first time meeting him. There's no animosity outside of the ring, but again, nothing that he said can hurt me or bother me because I don't care for for him. I don't know him who he is, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, lastly here, June 27th. Let the people know what's gonna happen at Barclay Center and what if fans need to know about Xander Zayas.
SPEAKER_00June 27th, Xander's Ayas is gonna do what he does, and he's gonna end still world champion at 154, and he's gonna, for some people, chug the world. For me, prove myself right.
SPEAKER_01I love it, my brother. Listen, I have been wanting to talk to you for the longest. I'm so happy you had the time to spend. You know, I wish you nothing but the best of luck, my man. Thank you, my guy. Thank you. How are you doing, brother? Hey, look, that's what we do here on the last stand, folks. We bring you the biggest names in the sport, and at 154, the biggest is the unified champ right there, Xander Zayas. Thanks for watching, everybody. We'll see you again next week. That's right. I am Brian Custer. This is The Last Stand. And we want to remind you if you love this content, and we certainly thank you for watching, downloading, supporting the show. Make sure you go to YouTube, subscribe to The Last Stand, hit that like button, and don't forget to hit the notification as well so you don't miss any episodes that we have coming up. Share the show as well. And you can also hear the podcast as well. You can download it, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, Podcast Attic, Deezer, or whatever platform you listen to your podcast, you can find The Last Stan. We certainly appreciate the support. Don't forget, download The Last Stand.