Rising 154-pound star Xander Zayas is set to headline his first event when he faces the former WBO junior-middleweight world champion Patrick Teixeira (34-4, 25 KOs) on Saturday night June 8th at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, live on ESPN.
Nineteen years ago, Top Rank initiated its Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend tradition when Miguel Cotto defeated Muhammad Abdullaev by way of 9th round TKO and retained his WBO super-lightweight world title. Now the undefeated 21-year-old Xander Zayas will follow in his idol’s footsteps.
A product of San Juan, Puerto Rico, the then 16-year-old Xander Zayas signed his pro boxing contract with Top Rank in March 2019. Seven months later, the highly touted prospect, made his pro debut by scoring a first round knockout victory over Genesis Wynn.
Through his first sixteen pro bouts, Xander Zayas showed steady growth, and he also illustrated the fact that he checks all of the boxes. Zayas has a strong jab, elite hand speed, good power, and excellent punch placement.
In addition to having all of the physical tools, Zayas possesses ring intelligence, and he’s a young fighter who has a lot of poise. When Zayas competed on the Luis Alberto Lopez-Joet Gonzalez undercard back in September 2023, he faced Roberto Valenzuela Jr.
In the opening round of the contest, Zayas landed a sneaky left hook that sent Valenzuela down to the canvas. Valenzuela was able to get up, but with 52 seconds left to go in the first round, Valenzuela went down for a second time. Zayas delivered a left hand in the 3rd round that caused a cut on Valenzuela’s nose.
Despite the fact that the cut on the bridge of Valenzuela’s nose bled profusely, the bout continued. As the cut continued to pour out blood, Zayas kept landing accurate shots, and the referee decided to put a halt to the contest in the fifth round.
In his most recent bout against Jorge Fortea, Xander Zayas was dominant as he stopped Fortea when he landed a well-placed body shot in the fifth round. Now Zayas is on the verge of stepping up to face a man who is a former world champion.
In the 32nd fight of his pro boxing career back in November 2019, Brazilian boxer Patrick Teixeira upset Carlos Adames and won the interim WBO junior-middleweight title. After being elevated to full champion, Teixeira lost by way of unanimous decision to Brian Castano.
In his most recent bout in March 2024, 33-year-old Patrick Teixeira posted a fourth round TKO victory over Edison Saltarin. Now the former world champion is ready to face the WBC’s 7th ranked contender. A victory over Zayas is exactly what Teixeira needs in order to insert his name back into world title contention.
Xander Zayas and Patrick Teixeira were originally scheduled to face each other on February 16th, but due to an undisclosed injury, Zayas withdrew from the fight. After experiencing a minor delay the two boxers will finally face each other in June, as their matchup has been elevated from co-main to the headliner.
Rising star Xander Zayas (18-0, 12 KOs) is approximately one month away from fulfilling his dream of being the headliner on Puerto Rican Day Weekend. Zayas is appreciative of the opportunity and he’s ready to put on a show.
“Representing Puerto Rico on a date in which Boricua culture is celebrated and honored represents a sacred commitment that I have with my people,” said Zayas. “On June 8, I won’t just be fighting for myself. I’ll be fighting for each and every Puerto Rican who always perseveres when the going gets tough.”