Xander Zayas’ WBO title defense strategy: Why Josh Kelly is the expected December opponent

Fans predict that Xander Zayas will first defend the WBC junior middleweight title against #3 Josh Kelly in Puerto Rico in December. It’s a fight that fits Zayas’s top-ranked protective approach to career.

A Kelly matchup was expected

Josh Kelly (17-1-1, 9 KOS) is no threat to defeating Xander compared to the fighter he mentioned last Saturday after his victory over Jorge Garcia. British fighter Kelly has won his final seven fights against domestic-level opposition since being knocked out by David Avaneshuan in 2021.

Zayas (22-0, 13 Kos) expressed interest in fighting WBC champion Sebastian Fundora, IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev and interim WBC champion Vergil Ortiz Jr.

Fundra said Zaya wanted to fight most. He doesn’t fit the title mileking plan that Top Rank could have for Xander. They built him like Edgar Berlanga and matched him with the can. He is essentially Berlanga 2.0 In a way that the top rank matches him. He is just as vulnerable as Edgar. The only difference is that Zayas is really from Puerto Rico. He’s not posing.

Astronomical offers are required

#4 Wbo Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is a fighter whose fans want to fight Zayas, but that’s not possible without his promoter, Eddie Hearn. It should probably be an unrealistic number in the $10 million range, as Top Rank will not go into such a fight knowing that Zaya will lose.

But they will not turn down such crazy offers. That’s money Xander never sees in his career without holding his WBO title for many years. Given his limited abilities, that is impossible.

If Turki Aralshiv came for Khan, he could come up with money to set up a fight between Zaya and Ennis for one of the seasonal events in Riyadh. However, top rank is limping and hoping Keep Zayas protected tKeep building records against less opposition than o. They have done a great job with Zayas so far, as he led him to a world title without fighting a solid fighter.