Xander Zayas\u2019s coronation is complete. The 22-year-old who has long been put forth as Puerto Rico\u2019s next boxing star became the sport\u2019s youngest active world champion on Saturday night, defeating Mexico\u2019s Jorge Garcia Perez by a comfortable 12-round unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBO junior middleweight title.<\/p>\n
The stakes couldn\u2019t have been clearer for Zayas, a prodigy who turned professional at 17 and has since plotted a measured ascent through the ranks. With the clear-cut victory before a rollicking crowd of several thousand at the Theater at Madison Square Garden, Zayas made good on years of promise while penning another chapter into the storied Puerto Rico\u2013Mexico rivalry.<\/p>\n
The bout was not the formality that some had envisioned. The wiry Garcia, an awkward and unpredictable foe, disrupted Zayas\u2019s rhythm early with lunging attacks and roughhouse tactics. But the younger man\u2019s superior timing, footwork and hand speed gradually took over. Zayas began beating Garcia to the punch with sharp counters and crisp combinations, breaking him down to the body and head while staying in control against the erratic threat in front of him. The most frenetic two-way action broke out in the sixth with both men trading hellfire in the center of the ring and Zayas getting the better of the exchanges.<\/p>\n
There were few moments of real jeopardy, but Garcia made him work for every round. He buzzed Zayas with a flush left hook in the third and rallied late with a flurry in the 10th, but each time Zayas responded with discipline and composure. In the end, the ringside judges scored it 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112 in his favor. (The Guardian had it 117-111.)<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s all about: growth,\u201d an elated Zayas said afterward. \u201cYou guys have seen me since I was 16 years old. You\u2019ve seen the elevation in my game. Today wasn\u2019t the exception. He came to fight. We knew he was coming to fight. We needed to keep him at distance and that\u2019s what we did. We frustrated him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garcia (33-5, 26 KOs), who earned his shot with an upset of Charles Conwell by split decision in April, proved durable and determined but lacked the tools to solve Zayas\u2019s blend of poise, precision and ringcraft. He landed 130 of 603 punches (21.6%), according to Compubox\u2019s punch statistics, compared to 199 of 522 for his opponent (38.1%).<\/p>\n
For Zayas (22-0, 14 KOs), the win completed a journey that began more than 15 years ago in a San Juan boxing gym, where his mother brought him to learn how to defend himself from bullies. Within months, he was a local sensation. At 10, he\u2019d already declared his professional ambitions. That path accelerated after his family moved to Sunrise, Florida, where he came under the tutelage of trainer Javiel Centeno, a mentee of the great Angelo Dundee.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom is my hero,\u201d Zayas said. \u201cShe made it happen. All this is because of her. She never quit on me. She always told me I was going to be a world champion and she made everything happen, [made] everything possible. We moved out of Puerto Rico to chase that dream and it\u2019s finally here at 22.\u201d<\/p>\n
Puerto Rico\u2019s Xander Zayas, left, punches Mexico\u2019s Jorge Garcia during the 12th round of Saturday\u2019s fight in New York. Photograph: Frank Franklin II\/AP<\/p>\n
Zayas grew up studying the Puerto Rican fistic icons \u2013 Tito Trinidad, Macho Camacho, Wilfredo Benitez \u2013 and idolized Miguel Cotto, whose fights became family rituals. That legacy was always his north star. On Saturday, it came full circle: in the same city where Cotto had his greatest nights, against a Mexican flag-bearer, Zayas became Puerto Rico\u2019s next great hope.<\/p>\n
The belt he won Saturday may be just the beginning. At 22, Zayas has time, talent and a devoted fanbase on his side. The 154lb division is stacked with challenges and unification opportunities, the kind of fights that will reveal how high he can climb. \u201cAnybody in the division can get it now,\u201d Zayas said. \u201cThere\u2019s no running. I\u2019m a world champion, and I have what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n
Zayas was long seen by many as a polished, likable prospect, but questions remain as the first chapter of his career comes to a close. Does he have the power to hurt the division\u2019s elite? Is he pound-for-pound material or a well-managed belt-holder who might fall short at the highest level? Saturday wasn\u2019t the night for those answers. Instead it was the night a 22-year-old from San Juan by way of Sunrise fulfilled a lifelong dream and made his first mark on Puerto Rican boxing\u2019s ocean-deep lore.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my new baby,\u201d Zayas said, giving a gentle caress to the bejeweled trophy draped over his shoulder early Sunday morning. \u201cI\u2019m sleeping with it tonight. Might sleep with it the whole week. It feels amazing. I worked hard for this. Almost 20 years as a boxer, six as a professional. The hard work finally paid off. I told everybody I was made for this. This was my moment. And we made it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xander Zayas\u2019s coronation is complete. The 22-year-old who has long been put forth as Puerto Rico\u2019s next boxing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295381,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4108],"tags":[1935,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-295380","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boxing","8":"tag-boxing","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114924155293958246","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295381"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}