Xander Zayas, a 22-year-old Puerto Rican boxer, has made history by becoming the youngest current world champion. On Saturday, Zayas conquered the vacant WBO junior middleweight title after a dominant decision victory over Jorge García Pérez at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. In his eighth fight at the Garden, Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) controlled the fight from the start, employing agile footwork and effective counterattacks to neutralize García Pérez’s offense. His strategy allowed him to maintain distance, even when García Pérez tried to close it. When the distance shortened, Zayas responded with clinches. The three judges awarded the victory to Zayas with scores of 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109. García Pérez, 28 years old and originally from Mexico, saw his streak of eight consecutive victories interrupted. In the last 30 seconds of the sixth round, Zayas connected a right hand that sent García Pérez against the ropes. Although García Pérez recovered, Zayas continued to dominate the fight. Despite an eighth round in which García Pérez showed signs of recovery, Zayas regained control in the ninth, avoiding damage and responding with combinations. He maintained dominance, connecting a high percentage of punches and making his opponent miss. According to CompuBox, Zayas connected 50 jabs and 19 more power punches than García Pérez, despite throwing 81 fewer punches. García Pérez connected 22% of his total punches and 24% of his power punches, while Zayas achieved 38% effectiveness in total punches and 45% in power punches. In addition, Zayas outperformed his rival in body shots, with an advantage of 59-31.
Zayas, who holds the eighth position in the junior middleweight ranking, is 22 years and 324 days old. The next youngest champion is Brian Norman Jr., in the welterweight category, with 24 years and 245 days. In the co-main event, Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington claimed the WBC interim featherweight title after a unanimous decision victory over Mateus Heita. Carrington (16-0, 9 KOs), who was the favorite, demonstrated his superiority. After three relatively even rounds, he began to connect body and head shots with right-hand counterpunches. Heita took several solid blows to the head, but was not knocked down. His activity decreased, and Carrington intensified the attack, dodging most of Heita’s punches. Carrington continued throwing combinations until the last second, and the judges awarded him a unanimous decision (120-108, 119-109, 119-109). This was Heita’s first career defeat, who now has a record of 14-1 in his first fight outside of Africa. Carrington is ranked sixth in the featherweight rankings. After receiving his interim belt, Carrington turned his attention to WBO champion Rafael Espinoza, who was present ringside. “I see you in the crowd,” Carrington said, pointing at Espinoza. “I want you, brother. You already know. My team has contacted your team. I want to fight.” In Saturday’s preliminary event, Emilianio Vargas, son of former super lightweight champion Fernando Vargas, improved his record to 15-0 with a knockout in 42 seconds over Alexander Espinoza in the super lightweight category. It was Vargas’ sixth consecutive knockout and the thirteenth of his career.It’s incredible. It’s incredible to represent Puerto Rico at the highest level and put the pride of my island where it belongs, at the top.
Xander Zayas
