Jeff Wagenheim
Jul 27, 2025, 12:37 AM ET
Xander Zayas is not the first Puerto Rican boxer to feel at home in New York, but Saturday, he set himself apart from all who came before, becoming the youngest current world champion by capturing the vacant WBO junior middleweight title with a dominant decision win over Jorge Garcia Perez at the Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Fighting at the Garden for the eighth time in his career, Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) was in control from the opening bell, using elusive footwork and counterpunching to quell the awkward but powerful offense of Garcia Perez. As Zayas picked up on his opponent's timing, he maintained distance -- even when Garcia Lopez, standing in a corner after absorbing a combination, tried to bring in Zayas. When Garcia Lopez closed the distance, Zayas tied him up.
All three judges awarded the fight to Zayas (116-112, 118-110, 119-109). Garcia Perez, a 28-year-old from Mexico, saw his eight-fight winning streak end.
In the final 30 seconds of Round 6, Zayas punctuated an exchange with a right hand that sent Garcia Lopez (33-4, 26 KOs) stumbling into the ropes. But Garcia Lopez regained his footing, but Zayas continued to pick him apart.
Garcia Lopez appeared to be fading, but he had a strong eighth round, throwing more combinations. But in the ninth, Zayas avoided damage and answered with combinations. He was in control the rest of the way, landing at a high percentage and making Garcia Lopez miss.
According to CompuBox, Zayas landed 50 more jabs and 19 more power punches than Garcia Lopez despite throwing 81 fewer punches. Garcia Lopez connected on 22% of his total punches and 24% of his power punches, while Zayas connected on 38% of his total punches and 45% of his power punches. Zayas also held a 59-31 edge in body shots landed.
"It's amazing. It's amazing to represent Puerto Rico at the highest level and to just put the pride of my island where it belongs -- at the top," said Zayas, who is the most recent fighter from Puerto Rico to win the junior middleweight world championship.
Zayas, who is No. 8 in the ESPN junior middleweight rankings, is 22 years, 324 days old. The next-youngest champ is welterweight Brian Norman Jr. at 24 years, 245 days.
On the undercard Saturday, Emilianio Vargas, son of former junior middleweight champion Fernando Vargas, improved to 15-0 with a 42-second knockout of junior welterweight Alexander Espinoza. It was Vargas' sixth straight knockout and the 13th of his career.
That fight was right before the co-main event, in which Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington won the vacant WBC interim featherweight title with a one-sided decision win over Mateus Heita.
Carrington (16-0, 9 KOs) was a heavy favorite and it showed. After a relatively competitive back-and-forth for the first three rounds, Carrington picked up the timing of Heita's jabs and began connecting to the body and head with frequent right hand counters.
Heita took several solid punches to the head in the middle rounds and was not even wobbled. But his activity level diminished, and Carrington ramped up his attack, while eluding most of the big punches Heita threw his way. Carrington kept throwing slick combinations until the final bell, and the judges rewarded him with a unanimous decision, with one of them scoring every round his way (120-108, 119-109, 119-109).
The loss was the first of Heita's career, dropping the 27-year-old from Namibia to 14-1 in his first fight outside Africa. Carrington is No. 6 in ESPN's featherweight rankings.
After receiving his interim belt, Carrington turned his focus on WBO champion Rafael Espinosa, who was at ringside. "I see you in the crowd," he said, pointing. "I want you, bro. You already know. My team has called your team. I want to fight."
