Xander Zayas says his ring IQ and boxing skills will be too much for Jorge Garcia tonight in their fight for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title in Madison Square Garden Theater in New York.
(Credit: Mikey Williams/Top Rank)
Top Rank’s Zayas Matchmaking
Zayas has been treated like gold since the top ranking since he became pro in 2019, despite not having an extraordinary amateur background. They carefully combined him against certain guys to build his record without really testing him. Now they have chosen the right man for Xander to succeed.
This is the perfect situation for Zayas because it could not have happened if he fought for the other titles at 154. The WBO’s rankings helped him a lot. Without it, the chance of Zayas to win a world title would be zero against a contender such as Israil Madrimov, Jaron Ennis, Vergil Ortiz Jr., or Serhii Bohachuk.
“He doesn’t have the boxing skills I have. I am very sharp at short distance and long distance, ‘said Xander Zayas for the Ring Magazine channelL, graduate Jorge Garcia before their fight tonight.
Zayas’s ego of soft battles
Xander is wrong. He is not a better fighter than Jorge Perez on the inside. Perez is a much better fighter on the inside than Zayas. Top Rank’s habit of matching Zayas against fewer fighters such as Slava Spomer, Damian Sosa and Patrick Teixeira has blown up his ego.
This is the same thing our Edgar Berlanga saw when he was the top ranking. They matched him poorly, as they do with Zayas, and he started to sound in the same way and thought he was actually good.
Zayas is a boxer and definitely has better skills than Garcia. He is also the larger fighter in terms of how much weight he packs to repetition. Zayas is essentially a middleweight draining to 154. He can still get away with it, but not long. He will have to move to 160 soon, as he is already looking at his weighing in.
Power concern for Zayas
Without an increase in punching power, Xander’s career will end as soon as he is forced to fight with middleweight. Although Bob Arum mentioned Top Rank that he wanted to match Zayas against IBF and WBO middleweight champion Janibek Alimkhanuly, it would be crazy for him to do so. He is not physically equipped to fight such guys.
“Conwell didn’t have it. He came with one game plan, and it was the perfect game plan for Jorge Garcia. He is fighting the best at short distance,” Zayas said.
Conwell tried to fight Jorge Garcia from the outside, but he couldn’t hold himself on. Garcia kept walking him and forced him to fight on the inside. Charles is not a car like Xander, so he couldn’t run around the ring to evade Garcia.
Xander’s footwork and IQ
“I feel that my feet, my speed, my IQ is on a very different level when it comes to fighting, and I will show it. I knew I said where I was going to be in 2025. I knew I was going to fight for a world championship,” Zayas said.
If Garcia catches Zayas, he can knock him out because he is much harder than Zayas. If Zayas stands still, he is a very average fighter and is hit. The only things that prevented him from being overwhelmed by the cans to which the top ranking constantly linked him is his feet and his weight advantage.
Last updated on 07/26/2025
