Zayas, promoted by Top Rank, questioned how any deal could be reached under those terms, saying negotiations were breaking down before they began. “I don’t know. His promoter says, or his manager says, they don’t fight outside of PBC. So how can you negotiate that? How can you go into a negotiation knowing that this guy doesn’t want to fight anyone else but the elderly staff at PBC?” Zayas told Ring Magazine.
The point lands harder when you look at the names Fundora mentioned. The WBC 154-pound champion talked about being open to Errol Spence Jr. and Jermell Charlo, both PBC fighters who are now in their mid-30s and have seen limited activity since 2023. These options keep everything in-house rather than moving to an association with another belt holder.
Zayas’ position is simple. If the door remains closed to outside promoters, there is no path to a fight that will combine titles at 154. The situation leaves champions operating on separate tracks, even when the matches exist on paper.
The fight can’t move forward if it never gets on the table.
Zayas isn’t just a big-talking prospect anymore. Holding half the titles, Xander’s claim that the “PBC bubble” is the only thing stopping a fight between them becomes a matter of record.
Xander’s comment about the “elderly staff” has aged remarkably well. Sebastian Fundora just defended his WBC title against Keith Thurman on March 28, 2026. Although Thurman is a respected name, he is 37 years old and had a lengthy one-year layoff.
Zayas is scheduled to defend his WBA and WBO junior middleweight titles against Jaron Ennis on June 27 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
