Xander Zayas’ Puerto Rico Homecoming: Celebrating A WBO Title Win Amidst Questions Of Elite Competition

Xander Zayas is back on the island in Puerto Rico, celebrating capturing the vacant WBO junior Middleweight title last Saturday night with his decision victory over Jorge Garcia at Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City.

Zayas’ Next Fight Options

It’s Zayas’ 15 minutes of fame before he and his promoters at Top Rank have to decide whether to take on one of the talented champions at 154, or milk the WBO belt with a soft opponent, perhaps Josh Kelly, to make money.

1. Sebastian Fundora
2. Bakhram Murtazaliev
3. Vergil Ortiz Jr.
4. Jaron Ennis
5. Yoenis Tellez
6. Josh Kelly

Xander is not going to be the next Miguel Cotto or Felix Trinidad for Puerto Rico. He lacks the talent to be like those fighters. He’s not like Hector Camacho either. His style is like Shakur Stevenson’s, but not skilled, but with the same risk-averse, hit-and-not-get-hit approach.

The performance by Xander, 22, wasn’t sparkingly enough to say that he would have a chance at beating fighters like Sebastian Fundora, Bakhram Murtazaliev, Vergil Ortiz Jr, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis, or Yoenis Tellez. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has got to be well aware of how little of a shot Zayas would have against any of them.

That could be why when he was asked about Xander’s next fight, he wasn’t naming anyone. He merely said he would defend the WBO belt in Puerto Rico for his next fight later this year.

Zayas did a good job beating Jorge Garcia by a 12-round unanimous decision. He used movement, a ton of holding, and a strong jab to win by the scores 116-112, 118-110, and 119-109.

Zayas’ Defensive Style

The constant clinching and moving worked well on the pressure fighter, Garcia, but wouldn’t be effective against any of the talented fighters in the division. They would walk Xander down, fight through his tie-ups, and batter him to pieces.

If Turki Alalshikh takes an interest in using Zayas for one of his events, it would be worthwhile to fight one of the champions at 154. Turki would have to be open to welcoming another Jerry-esque type fighter into his fold.

If not, Xander would be better off taking easy fights like the ones that he built his unbeaten record on. Top Rank’s formula has worked well, turning a finesse-level fighter with no power into a world champion without fighting any of the dangerous guys in the division.

The champ is making his rounds in PR 🏆

Via @BSNPR @VaquerosBSN @CangrejerosB pic.twitter.com/aQXYYRwIOb

— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) July 31, 2025