Xander Zayas Conquers World Title and Makes Boxing History
Xander Zayas, the young Puerto Rican boxer, has achieved a significant milestone in his career. On Saturday, at the age of 22, he became the youngest world champion by obtaining the vacant WBO super welterweight title, after a dominant decision victory over Jorge García Pérez at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. This victory at the Garden, the eighth in his career, demonstrated Zayas’s absolute control from the start. His agility with his feet and his ability to counterattack allowed him to neutralize the offensive, although powerful, of García Pérez. Zayas knew how to maintain the distance, even when his opponent tried to shorten it. The three judges awarded the victory to Zayas with scorecards of 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109. García Pérez, from Mexico, saw his streak of eight consecutive victories interrupted. In the last 30 seconds of the sixth round, Zayas connected with a right hand that staggered García Pérez against the ropes. Although García Pérez recovered, Zayas continued to dominate the fight. García Pérez seemed to weaken, but had a stronger eighth round, throwing more combinations. However, in the ninth, Zayas avoided the damage and responded with combinations, maintaining control and connecting a high percentage of punches, while García Pérez was missing. According to the statistics, Zayas connected 50 jabs and 19 power punches more than Garcia Perez, despite throwing 81 fewer punches. Garcia Perez connected 22% of his total punches and 24% of his power punches, while Zayas achieved 38% and 45% respectively. In addition, Zayas outperformed his opponent in body shots, with an advantage of 59-31.Zayas, currently in the number 8 position in the super welterweight ranking, is the youngest champion at 22 years and 324 days old. The next youngest champion is Brian Norman Jr., in welterweight, at 24 years and 245 days old.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
Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington Wins WBC Interim Featherweight Title
In the co-main event, Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington claimed the WBC interim featherweight title, following a unanimous decision victory over Mateus Heita. Carrington, who was the favorite, demonstrated his superiority. After three more even initial rounds, he began to connect body shots and headshots with right-hand counterpunches. Heita took several solid blows to the head, but was not knocked down. His activity decreased, and Carrington intensified his attack, dodging most of Heita’s punches. Carrington kept the combinations until the end, and the judges awarded him the victory by 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 number 6 in the featherweight rankings. After receiving his interim belt, Carrington turned his attention to WBO champion Rafael Espinoza, who was present at the event.I see you in the crowd. I love you, brother. You already know. My team has contacted your team. I want to fight.
Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington
