Puerto Rican Xander Zayas has become the youngest active world champion after defeating Mexican opponent Jorge Garcia Perez in a 12-round unanimous decision rout this past weekend. The two fighters headlined a Top Rank show on Saturday, July 26, at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York.
Xander Zayas vs. Jorge Garcia Perez
With the vacant WBO super welterweight (154 lbs) title on the line, both Xander Zayas (22-0, 13 KO’s) and Jorge Garcia Perez (33-5, 26 KO’s) headed into the most important fight of their careers, but it was the 22-year old Zayas who proved a step too much for the more experienced Perez.
Proving to be a devastating counterpuncher, Zayas’ style perfectly counteracted Garcia’s typical pressure style of fighting with the Mexican attempting to make an impact with a high volume of punches in the pocket. This proved to have little effect against the Puerto Rican whose excellent footwork, timing and counters culminated in Garcia wasting most of his shots.
Though not an outright dominant match, Xander Zayas controlled most of the bout as his elusive movement and counterattacks made Garcia struggle in landing his heavy-handed punches. Showing a firm grasp over the fundamentals in boxing, including the jab, Zayas showed a remarkable amount of poise for one his age as he outboxed and countered his 28-year old opponent like a world champion in the making.
As a result, Zayas won most of the rounds clearly despite an early rocky start where Jorge Garcia had looked to make an impact with his pressure. Scorecards at the end of the 12th round depicted a clean unanimous decision (UD) win in favor of Zayas who would be announced the new WBO 154 pound champion, becoming the youngest active world champion, and the fourth youngest Puerto Rican champion in history.
All three judges scored the fight 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109 in favor of Xander Zayas.
Undercard fights:
Featured in the co-main event of the Top Rank show, American prospect Bruce Carrington (16-0, 9 KO’s) made the leap to becoming a genuine contender and interim champion at featherweight (126 lbs) after defeating then-unbeaten Namibian contender Mateus Heita (14-1, 9 KO’s) by UD through scores of 119-109 twice, and 120-108 over the course of 12 rounds. Carrington won the vacant WBC interim featherweight title as a result of his commendable performance.
