XANDER Zayas announced himself as a player in the 154-pound division by picking up the vacant WBO super-welterweight title in New York last night. Zayas lit up the Madison Square Garden Theater with a 12-round points win over Mexico’s Jorge Garcia Perez.
All three judges agreed on the unanimous verdict, arriving at their conclusions by different pathways. Tony Paolillo saw it 116-112, handing Garcia four rounds for his efforts. Tom Shreck less so, seeing it 118-110, while Robin Taylor only gave Garcia a single session, awarding it to Zayas a 119-109 margin.
“Boxing 101. I had to box my way to victory. The jab is the key weapon to victory and we showed it tonight,” said an emotional Xander Zayas once he switched from Spanish to English at the end.
Described by announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr during the ringwalks as a classic Mexico vs. Puerto Rico battle, while the names may not be of the household variety (yet, in Zayas’ case), the crowd didn’t care, making a fantastic noise at the introductions.
There was a noticeable size difference as the wiry Garcia tried to wing in shots on his more filled-out opponent. Garcia’s unpredictable raids made Zayas bring the left hook out to play in the second round, as he sought to control his marauding opponent’s attacks.
Referee Eric Dali told Zayas to keep his shots up in the third, although it was the heavy shots upstairs that Garcia needed to worry about as Zayas’ timing got the measure of ‘Chino’.
Tim Bradley reckoned Zayas needed to hunt the body and potentially make Garcia quit. A bold statement. Zayas’ jab, body shot and hooks were landing beautifully in round five as he upped the levels. It was all Zayas as the man from San Juan seemingly swept every round into the sixth.
Garcia enjoyed a brief period of success in the eighth, finally picking up a round on the scorecard of ESPN’s Mark Kriegel. It was a fleeting show of defiance as Zayas got back to his boxing in round nine.
At only 22 years old, this was an exceptionally mature performance from a youthful operator aiming to become the youngest world boxing champion. Garcia was still swinging in round 10 to little avail.
Now 22-0 (13 KOs), Zayas boxed a smart, compact fight all night, proving that he has the tools and the engine to become a serious player in a stacked division.
Applauding the winner after the fight result announcement, Garcia, 33-5 (26 KOs), once again showed his extreme toughness.
Zayas fancies a crack at Sebastian Fundora, who was last seen bludgeoning Tim Tszyu to defeat. Fundora dropped the WBO belt that Zayas won last night. What a fight that would be.
