Xander Zayas’ Puerto Rico Homecoming: Celebrating WBO Title Winning amid elite competition questions
Xander Zayas returned to the Puerto Rico island and won the vacant WBO junior middleweight title last Saturday night by jerge Garcia at Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York City.
Zayas’ Next Battle Options
That’s Zaya 15 minutes of fame The top ranked guy and his promoter will have to decide whether to take on one of the talented champions at 154 or make money to milk his WBO belt with his soft opponent, Josh Kelly.
- Sebastian Fandra
- Bakhram Murtazaliev
- Vergil Ortiz Jr.
- Jaron Ennis
- Yoenis Tellez
- Josh Kelly
Xander will not become Puerto Rico’s next Miguel Cott or Felix Trinidad. He lacks the talent to become like those fighters. He’s not even like Hector Camacho. His style is like Shakur Stevenson’s, but not skilled, but with the same risk-averse, non-hit approach.
It was no exaggeration to say that Zander, 22, would have had the opportunity to play fighter jets like Sebastian Fandra, Bakulam Murtazaliev, Virgil Ortiz Jr., Jaron Boots Ennis or Yonnis Terres. Top-rank promoter Bob Alm must fully recognize how few shots Zayas has against any of them.
That may be why he didn’t name anyone when asked about Xander’s next fight. He just said he would defend Puerto Rico’s WBO belt for his next fight later this year.
Zayas did a good job beating Jorge Garcia with a unanimous 12th round decision. He won with a score of 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109, using movement, lots of holdings and a strong jab.
Zayas’s defensive style
The constant clinching and movement worked well with Garcia, a pressure fighter, but not effective against the talented fighters in the department. They walked Xander and fought through his partnership, making him a barratz.
If Turki Alalshikh is interested in using Zayas for one of his events, it is worth fighting one of the champions at 154. Jerry-style Enter the fighter in his crease.
Otherwise, Xander would be better off playing a simple fight like he made an unbeaten record. The top ranked formula worked well, turning finesse-level fighters into world champions without power without fighting the dangerous people of the Division.
The champion is doing his rounds with Pr🏆
via @BSNPR @vaquerosbsn @cangrejerosb pic.twitter.com/aqxyyrwiob
– Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) July 31, 2025
Last updated on 07/31/2025