Mike Bazzel has seen it all in more than 30 years in the sport.
Still, the renowned cutman was genuinely touched to be in the corner for Xander Zayas’ WBO 154lbs title win over Mexico’s Jorge Garcia. The moment was a coronation for the unbeaten 22-year-old Puerto Rican, who has trained under head coach Javiel Centeno since age 11, when he and his family moved to South Florida.
More than a decade later, Centeno’s Sweatbox Boxing Gym – based in Davie, Florida - crowned its latest major titlist with Zayas’ victory on July 26 at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
“It is a professional corner,” Bazzel told BoxingScene. “Javiel’s had world champions like George Kambosos, but this is the root of the fruit. This is from the ground up.”
Their union produced a successful amateur career. Zayas reached the pinnacle in 2018, when he won the USA Youth National Championships.
Among the list of fighters he conquered along the way were: Omari Jones, who went on to claim a bronze medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics; current middleweight prospect Amari Jones and rising super middleweight Daniel Blancas.
Zayas, 22-0 (13 KOs), has carried over that success in the pros, and with familiar faces all around. At age 16, he became Top Rank’s youngest ever signee in 2019. The seed was planted in 2018 by Peter Kahn, one of the sport’s premiere eyes for scouting talent and who remains Zayas’ loyal manager.
“That is what Virgil Hunter did with Andre Ward,” said Bazzel, who has been the cutman for most of Zayas’ 22 pro bouts. “You can’t take this experience from them. They always say you are a real trainer when you bring someone from the amateurs to the top.”
The transition from beginner to titlist in those six years was as traditional as Zayas keeping the same team intact. He was expertly brought along, beginning with the early years on Top Rank undercards.
Through the years, Zayas has become a reliable ticket seller both in South Florida and New York City. He boasted the talent to match the marketability and charisma to advance to co-feature status and eventual headlining act.
The most optimistic early plans included the hope that Zayas could nab a title at welterweight before he outgrew the division. The natural growth process that comes with his massive frame made it clear that 154lbs would be where he planted that flag.
Still, with every success story comes its share of detractors.
It was questioned whether Zayas was being coddled on the road to his first title, despite his personally pushing for a mandatory title fight with Sebastian Fundora, who held the WBC and WBO titles until earlier this spring. Fundora vacated the WBO belt to instead move forward with a rematch against Tim Tszyu, whom he stopped after seven rounds on July 19 in Las Vegas.
Zayas joined him on the title stage just one week later after his dominant win over Garcia, 33-5 (26 KOs). However, not everyone was impressed, to the bewilderment of Zayas’ team.
“I was surprised by the criticism that I heard,” Bazzel said. “Just look at his physical conditioning, every muscle in that kid's body is from years of conditioning and preparation. There is no wasted muscle on him.”
Zayas has proven that he is a titleholder, but now comes the next step, which is to cement his status in the sport.
“With any champion, it is now defending the title,” Bazzel said. “Now the real work happens.”
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
