Xander Zayas vs. Jorge Garcia Perez will meet on July 26th for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The event will be shown live on ESPN.
Zayas vs Garcia Perez Preview
The two will battle for the WBO belt recently stripped from champion Sebastian Fundora. The World Boxing Organization had ordered him to defend against mandatory Zayas, but chose to fight Tim Tszyu in a more lucrative rematch. Understandably, Fundora chose to fight Tszyu for the bigger payday rather than defend against the inexperienced 22-year-old Zayas.
Xander wanted the fight against Fundora. He’d even attempted to initiate a face-off for publicity’s sake following Sebastian’s victory over Chordale Booker on March 22nd at the Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. Fundora’s sister prevented the face-off. She obviously knew that Sebastian had other plans for the big money rematch with Tszyu.
Jorge Garcia Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) has a Fundora-esque style with his height, long arms, and looping shots that he throws. He resembles an octopus inside the ring with the way he throws looping punches that are difficult to track for his opponents.
Garcia is an excellent body puncher and is superb on the inside. In his last fight, he defeated previously unbeaten Charles Conwell by a 12-round split decision on April 19th. Throughout the night, Garcia Perez got inside on Conwell and banged to the body with triple and quad-triple hooks.
Zayas Fast-Tracked, No Quality Wins
#1 ranked Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs) has been fast-tracked by his promoters at Top Rank, and moved quickly to the top of the WBO’s rankings at 154 without beating any notable opposition during his six-year pro career. They want to turn the Puerto Rican native Xander into an East Coast star, like Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto.
However, Zayas lacks punching power, and his fighting style is closer to Shakur Stevenson’s than that of the two former stars. Zayas is a hit-and-run type of fighter, and not particularly entertaining to watch for fans who like action. Xander’s style is the complete opposite of Trinidad and Cotto. He’s more of a blend of Shakur, Devin Haney, and Richardson Hitchins. The only difference is that Zayas is bigger than those guys.
It’s going to be near impossible for Top Rank to turn Xayas into a star, even in New York, because his fighting style is ugly to watch. It’s pure defense and weak, point-scoring shots.
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Puerto Ricoβs sensation @XanderZayas faces Mexican contender Jorge Garcia Perez for the vacant WBO Junior Middleweight belt at @TheTheaterAtMSG on Saturday, July 26!
ποΈ Pre-sale begins June 5. pic.twitter.com/1R5QNGRNKy
β Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) May 29, 2025