Xander Zayas, the 22-year-old Puerto Rican prodigy, became the youngest active world champion in boxing on Saturday night, defeating Mexico's Jorge García Pérez by unanimous decision to claim the vacant WBO junior middleweight title. The fight took place at the Theater at Madison Square Garden before a crowd of several thousand.
Zayas, who turned professional at 17, controlled the bout with superior timing, footwork, and hand speed, gradually breaking down the awkward and unpredictable García. The most intense action came in the sixth round, with both fighters trading heavy blows in the centre of the ring. García buzzed Zayas with a left hook in the third and rallied in the 10th, but Zayas responded with discipline and composure.
The judges scored the fight 119-109, 118-110, and 116-112 in Zayas's favour. Compubox statistics showed Zayas landing 199 of 522 punches (38.1%) compared to García's 130 of 603 (21.6%). García, who earned his shot by upsetting Charles Conwell in April, fell to 33-5 with 26 knockouts.
Zayas, now 22-0 with 14 knockouts, dedicated the victory to his mother, who brought him to a boxing gym in San Juan over 15 years ago to learn self-defence. The family later moved to Sunrise, Florida, where Zayas trained under Javiel Centeno. 'My mom is my hero,' Zayas said. 'She made it happen. All this is because of her.'
Looking ahead, Zayas expressed confidence in facing any challenger in the 154lb division. 'Anybody in the division can get it now,' he said. 'There's no running. I'm a world champion, and I have what they want.'
