Xander Zayas Becomes Youngest Current World Champion

Xander Zayas became the youngest current world champion at age 22 with a dominant, unanimous decision win against Jorge Garcia Perez of Mexico last Saturday. Zayas secured the vacant WBO junior middleweight title at the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. He joins several Puerto Rican boxers who have felt right at home in New York. How will the world champion follow this up? This was the eighth time Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) fought at the Garden. He was in control from start to finish. Garcia Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) entered the bout with an eight-fight win streak. Zayas sent his opponent into the ropes in the 6th round, but didn’t score a knockdown. He used his impressive counterpunching and footwork throughout the fight, along with landing solid shots and maintaining distance. The judges scored the fight (116-112, 118-110, 119-109) all in favor of Zayas. During his post-fight interview, Zayas said, “It’s amazing. It’s amazing to represent Puerto Rico at the highest level and to just put the pride of