Xander Zayas records lopsided win over Teixeira, calls for fights against Erickson Lubin and Josh Kelly

THE RESULT: Xander Zayas delivered a shut-out win against former 154lbs world champion Patrick Teixeira at the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York. A Puerto Rican carnival atmosphere played its part in ensuring Zayasโ€™s dream of headlining the venue was a memorable one. And the 21-year-oldโ€™s dominance in the fight was reflected on the three scorecards (100-90 twice, 99-91).


KEY MOMENTS: The undefeated super-welterweight landed a thudding uppercut in the opening round to signal his intentions. In the fifth, Zayas proved heโ€™s committed to hitting whatever is open to him by thumping the shoulders of his Brazilian opponent in a bid to break him down. Cheered on by partisan support on the eve of the Puerto Rican day parade, Zayas chipped away and, in the eighth, threw a bombardment of shots that Texieira did well to survive for the final six minutes.


RECORDS: Zayas extended his unbeaten record to 19-0 (12 KOs), while Teixeiraโ€™s fifth defeat takes him to 34-5 (25 KOs).


TALKING POINTS: The wonderful Puerto Rican fanbase has been crying out for another national hero to join their rich boxing history. Itโ€™s still early days for Zayas, but if he can navigate through a deep 154lb division and emerge as a world champion, then he could lead from the front with Subriel Matias and maybe even Edgar Berlanga alongside him.


QUOTABLE: Afterwards, Zayas paid tribute to his opponent who recently suffered a family bereavement. โ€œA couple weeks ago we learned that Patrickโ€™s mother passed away and like a warrior he was here and put on a show so I want to give a round of applause to Patrick Teixeira.โ€

โ€œHe was tough. Being a veteran he knew how to survive in there,” Zayas said. “I feel like it was a tough test but I passed it with flying colours.

โ€œItโ€™s like everybody at Top Rank tells me, ‘Before you go 12 you gotta go 10.’ I did it today and I graduated against a former world champion. That was the rounds that I needed.”


WHAT’S NEXT: Zayas will likely retain his top-five ranking with the WBO and perhaps move up a spot. Speaking to ESPN, he called for fights against fellow top-five WBO contenders Erickson Lubin (4) and Josh Kelly (3) as well as his new stablemate and friend Vito Mielnicki Jr. A step up in class could be next for the Florida-based Puerto Rican, who is slowly but surely making his way into the deep end of the super-welterweight division.

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