Tim Bradley says he’s picking WBO junior middleweight champion Xander Zayas to defeat Vergil Ortiz Jr. if that fight gets made. He believes that Zayas (23-0, 13 KOs) is too technical, young, and big for Ortiz Jr. (23-0, 21 KOs) to deal with his talent.
Santillan Fight Rumors
Top Rank might not share Bradley’s same confidence in Zayas, as he’s rumored to be making his first defense of his WBO 154-lb title in December against the recently knocked out fringe welterweight contender Giovani Santillan in Puerto Rico.
“I’m going with the young Xander Zayas. He’s going to shock the world. He’s going to showcase that talent,” said Tim Bradley on his channel, picking Xander Zayas to defeat Vergil Ortiz Jr. if the fight gets made. “We already know what Vergil Ortiz can do. We’ve seen him against guys who can box. Xander Zayas, that’s what he does.”
Zayas vs. Top Contenders
Xander would be hopelessly overmatched against Vergil Ortiz Jr, as would be the case against other fighters in the top 15. Even in the WBO’s top 15 ranking, Zayas wouldn’t stand a chance against these five contenders:
- Jaron Ennis
- Israil Madrimov
- Serhii Bohachuk
- Erickson Lubin
- Charles Conwell
“He doesn’t have the biggest power in the world, but do you know what he does? That boy is tactically good, has got fresh legs, he’s strong, big too, he’s got the reach advantage, and he knows how to keep that distance and box from the outside,” said Bradley about Zayas.
Xander’s Excessive Holding Tactics
Zayas actually isn’t good at keeping the fight on the outside, as he gets tired from moving, and it’s easy to cut off the ring on him. The slow-footed Jorge Garcia frequently trapped him, but he lacked the proper training to fight through the excessive clinching he was doing. The referee failed to do his job by addressing the nonstop holding. It was beyond excessive, and it should have resulted in point deductions. For Top Rank, it was the ideal situation with that referee working the Zayas-Garcia fight rather than someone who does his job.
Bradley’s Zayas-Ortiz Jr. Prediction
“He’s going to tie Ortiz up when he gets close. He’s going to give him hell,” said Bradley. “I’m going with Xander Zayas on this. Make the fight happen, Top Rank and Golden Boy. Xander Zayas is there now. His confidence is at an all-time high, and he’s a belt-holder too. Make the fight happen. I’m picking Xander Zayas to upset Vergil Ortiz.”
Clinching by Xander won’t be enough to prevent Vergil Jr. from teeing off on him and scoring a knockout in this fight. That tactic worked for Zayas against Jorge Garcia, but it’s not going to be enough for him to hold off Ortiz. He’ll need actual offense and power to have a shot at winning.
Protecting Xander Zayas
Those are areas where Xander is deficient. Besides, if Top Rank actually thought Zayas could beat A-level fighters like Vergil Jr, they wouldn’t have gone in the direction of having him fight for the vacant WBO belt. They’d have gone straight to the top by matching him against IBF champion Bakhram Murtazaliev or WBC champ Sebastian Fundora. They know what they have in Zayas, and understand that he’s got to be protected like he were the Crown Jewels.
“Vergil, I hope they make him the favorite in the fight because we’re going to make a whole lot of money. There’s going to be a whole lot of sad faces after they see Vergil Ortiz go down from the young, determined, hungry Xander Zayas,” said Bradley.
It’s good to see that Bradley is staying loyal to Top Rank by backing their creation, Xander. It would look like a betrayal on his part if he openly picked Vergil Jr. over Zayas. It would be interesting to know what Bradley’s real view is about this fight. His siding with unproven, light-hitting Zayas after his performance against Jorge Garcia looks like he doesn’t want to disrupt things.
Last Updated on 08/03/2025
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