Xander Zayas vs. Jorge Garcia Perez: Battle for the WBO’s Vacant Junior Middleweight Title

#1 Xander Zayas and #2 Jorge Garcia Perez have reached an agreement to fight for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title. The location and date of the fight will be announced soon. The previous WBO champion Sebastian Fundora chose to give up the WBO 154-lb belt after the sanctioning body ordered him to begin negotiations with the 22-year-old Puerto Rican native Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs).

The Un-Trinidad

It’s not that Fundora was afraid of the light-hitting defensive fighter Zayas. He chose to take a better-paying fight in a rematch with Tim Tszyu on July 19th on the Manny Pacquiao vs. Mario Barrios card. Zayas wanted Fundora to do a premature face-off with him after his recent win over Chordale Booker, but he chose not to because he had no plans of fighting him.

Xander looked silly and desperate, coming to Fundora’s dressing room, trying to get a face-off. If the fight had happened, Fundora would have been a huge favorite because Zayas has no offense. His only path to winning fights is by hitting, moving, and clinching in that order.

Zayas isn’t well-known outside of the New York arena, and his style is very boring. He’s the opposite of fellow Puerto Rican fighters Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto. He’s more like a Puerto Rican Shakur Stevenson, which isn’t good. He has a little Devin Haney in him, too. You can spot Haney’s style in Xander, which suggests he may have used him and Shakur as his role models.

Perez (33-4, 26 KOs) is coming off a 12-round split decision upset of Charles Conwell on April 19th in Oceanside, California. No one expected Perez, 6’0″, to defeat the previously unbeaten Conwell, but he used his body attack and combination punching to get the better of him.

Rushed Opportunity?

Zayas’ Flaws

– No power
– Weak chin
– Never been tested: Top Rank has matched Zayas against exclusively mediocre opposition
– Not ready for elite competition
– Dull style

“Vacant WBO 154 lbs. Title Xander Zayas vs. Jorge Garcia. The WBO confirms that Top Rank, Golden Boy, and Zanfer Promotions have reached an agreement for the subject matter bout. Official fight date & venue to be announced,” said Salvador Rodriguez on X.