Xander Zayas Outboxes Jorge Garcia To Become Boxing’s Youngest Active World Champion

Xander Zayas’s coronation is complete. The 22-year-old who has agelong been put distant arsenic Puerto Rico’s adjacent boxing prima became nan sport’s youngest progressive world champion connected Saturday night, defeating Mexico’s Jorge Garcia Perez by a unanimous determination to declare nan vacant WBO inferior middleweight title.

The stakes couldn’t person been clearer for Zayas, a prodigy who turned master astatine 17 and has since made a measured ascent done nan ranks. With nan triumph earlier a rollicking crowd of respective 1000 astatine nan Theater astatine Madison Square Garden, Zayas made bully connected years of committedness while penning different section into nan storied Puerto Rico–Mexico rivalry.

The bout was not nan formality that immoderate had envisioned. The wiry Garcia, an awkward and unpredictable foe, disrupted Zayas’s hit early pinch lunging attacks and roughhouse tactics. But nan younger man’s superior timing, footwork and manus velocity gradually took over. Zayas began beating Garcia to nan punch pinch crisp counters and crisp combinations, breaking him down to nan assemblage and caput while staying successful power against nan erratic threat successful beforehand of him.

There were fewer moments of existent jeopardy, but Garcia made him activity for each round. He buzzed Zayas pinch a flush near hook successful nan 3rd and rallied precocious pinch a flurry successful nan 10th, but each clip Zayas responded pinch composure. In nan end, nan ringside judges scored it 119-109, 118-110 and 116-112 successful his favor. (The Guardian had it 117-111.)

“That’s what it’s each about: growth,” an elated Zayas said afterward. “You guys person seen maine since I was 16 years old. You’ve seen nan elevation successful my game. Today wasn’t nan exception. He came to fight. We knew he was coming to fight. We needed to support him astatine region and that’s what we did. We disappointment him.”

Garcia (33-5, 26 KOs), who earned his changeable pinch an upset of Charles Conwell by 12-round divided determination successful April, proved durable and wished but lacked nan devices to lick Zayas’s blend of poise, precision and ringcraft. He landed 130 of 603 punches (21.6%), according to Compubox’s punch statistics, compared to 199 of 522 for his force (38.1%).

For Zayas (22-0, 14 KOs), nan triumph completed a travel that began much than 15 years agone successful a San Juan boxing gym, wherever his mother brought him to study really to take sides himself from bullies. Within months, he was a section sensation. At 10, he’d already declared his master ambitions. That way accelerated aft his family moved to Sunrise, Florida, wherever he came nether nan tutelage of trainer Javiel Centeno, a mentee of nan awesome Angelo Dundee.

“My mom is my hero,” Zayas said. “She made it happen. All this is because of her. She ne'er discontinue connected me. She ever told maine I was going to beryllium a world champion and she made everything happen, everything possible. We moved retired of Puerto Rico to pursuit that dream and it’s yet present astatine 22.”

Puerto Rico's Xander Zayas, left, punches Mexico's Jorge Garcia during nan 12th information of Saturday’s conflict successful New York. Photograph: Frank Franklin II/AP

Zayas grew up studying nan Puerto Rican fistic icons – Tito Trinidad, Macho Camacho, Wilfredo Benitez – and idolized Miguel Cotto, whose fights became family rituals. That bequest was ever his northbound star. On Saturday, it came afloat circle: successful nan aforesaid metropolis wherever Cotto had his top nights, against a Mexican flag-bearer, Zayas became Puerto Rico’s adjacent awesome hope.

The loop he won Saturday whitethorn beryllium conscionable nan beginning. At 22, Zayas has time, talent and a devoted fanbase connected his side. The 154lb section is stacked pinch challenges and unification opportunities, nan benignant of fights that will uncover really precocious he tin climb. “Anybody successful nan section tin get it now,” Zayas said. “There’s nary running. I’m a world champion, and I person what they want.”

Zayas was agelong seen by galore arsenic a polished, likable prospect, but questions stay arsenic nan first section of his profession comes to a close. Does he person nan powerfulness to wounded nan division’s elite? Is he pound-for-pound worldly aliases a well-managed belt-holder who mightiness autumn short astatine nan highest level? Saturday wasn’t nan nighttime for those answers. Instead it was nan nighttime a 22-year-old from San Juan by measurement of Sunrise fulfilled a lifelong dream and made his first people connected Puerto Rican boxing’s ocean-deep lore.

“That’s my caller baby,” Zayas said, giving his bejeweled trophy a gentle compression early Sunday morning. “I’m sleeping pinch it tonight. Might slumber pinch it nan full week. It feels amazing. I worked difficult for this. Almost 20 years arsenic a boxer, six arsenic a professional. The difficult activity yet paid off. I told everybody I was made for this. This was my moment. And we made it happen.”