Winning one belt isn’t enough for Xander Zayas.
The unbeaten Puerto Rican Zayas was overcome with joy, though in response to a mission not yet fully completed, as he outpointed Jorge Garcia to claim the WBO 154lbs title. Zayas was dominant in Saturday’s ESPN headliner from the Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Sebastian Fundora was the previous owner of the belt at stake Saturday, for whom the 22-year-old Zayas, 22-0 (13 KOs), was the WBO mandatory challenger. Fundora, 23-1-1 (15 KOs), had vacated the title to instead proceed with a rematch against Tim Tszyu, whom he stopped after seven rounds.
“Sebastian Fundora just fought last week,” Zayas noted after his career-best win. “I heard he’s looking for an opponent [for his next fight]. I’m waiting and I’m ready to go in December.”
Fundora still holds the WBC 154lbs title, which he claimed in a 12-round split decision win over a then-unbeaten Tszyu last March 30 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. He also lifted Tszyu’s WBO belt that evening, but he made just one successful defense before he relinquished that title.
Zayas was eager for his first major title fight to come against an established titlist. He even made a point to sit ringside for Fundora’s knockout win over Chordale Booker on March 22 in Las Vegas, and immediately joined the reigning titlist in the ring after the fight.
A negotiation period was ordered by the WBO before the matter was sent to a purse bid hearing. Fundora withdrew from the process once he became contractually bound to a second fight with Tszyu, which left Zayas to face Garcia – the next-highest-ranked available challenger.
The upside to settling for a vacant title fight was that Zayas was able to perform in his home away from home. Saturday’s win marked his eighth at the MSG facility and fourth in a row at The Theater, this one playing to a raucous crowd in his honor.
With his first title win out of the way, Zayas is eager to add to his collection.
No longer an empty-handed challenger, the South Florida-based Boricua hopes to present Fundora with the chance to reclaim his old belt. Between that and their timelines being perfectly aligned after big wins just seven days apart, the matchup almost makes too much sense.
“That fight will become much bigger,” Zayas previously told BoxingScene. “Fighting for a world title and me only being a challenger, maybe that same matchup isn’t as big as two world champions fighting each other.
“So hopefully him beating Tim Tszyu and me beating [Garcia] this weekend will mean a bigger fight in December, or maybe early next year. I definitely believe it will be an even bigger fight if we get to that point.”
