Xander Zayas records lopsided win over Teixeira, calls for fights against Erickson Lubin and Josh Kelly

THE RESULT: Xander Zayas delivered a shut-out win against former 154lbs world champion Patrick Teixeira on the Madison Square Garden Theatre in New York. A Puerto Rican carnival ambiance performed its half in guaranteeing Zayas’s dream of headlining the venue was a memorable one. And the 21-year-old’s dominance within the combat was mirrored on the three scorecards (100-90 twice, 99-91).

KEY MOMENTS: The undefeated super-welterweight landed a thudding uppercut within the opening spherical to sign his intentions. In the fifth, Zayas proved he’s dedicated to hitting no matter is open to him by thumping the shoulders of his Brazilian opponent in a bid to interrupt him down. Cheered on by partisan assist on the eve of the Puerto Rican day parade, Zayas chipped away and, within the eighth, threw a bombardment of pictures that Texieira did effectively to outlive for the ultimate six minutes.

RECORDS: Zayas prolonged his unbeaten document to 19-0 (12 KOs), whereas Teixeira’s fifth defeat takes him to 34-5 (25 KOs).

TALKING POINTS: The great Puerto Rican fanbase has been crying out for one other nationwide hero to hitch their wealthy boxing historical past. It’s nonetheless early days for Zayas, but when he can navigate by way of a deep 154lb division and emerge as a world champion, then he could lead on from the entrance with Subriel Matias and perhaps even Edgar Berlanga alongside him.

QUOTABLE: Afterwards, Zayas paid tribute to his opponent who just lately suffered a household bereavement. “A couple weeks ago we learned that Patrick’s mother passed away and like a warrior he was here and put on a show so I want to give a round of applause to Patrick Teixeira.”

“He was tough. Being a veteran he knew how to survive in there,” Zayas mentioned. “I really feel prefer it was a tricky take a look at however I handed it with flying colors.

“It’s like everybody at Top Rank tells me, ‘Before you go 12 you gotta go 10.’ I did it today and I graduated against a former world champion. That was the rounds that I needed.”

WHAT’S NEXT: Zayas will seemingly retain his top-five rating with the WBO and maybe transfer up a spot. Speaking to ESPN, he referred to as for fights against fellow top-five WBO contenders Erickson Lubin (4) and Josh Kelly (3) in addition to his new stablemate and pal Vito Mielnicki Jr. A step up at school might be subsequent for the Florida-based Puerto Rican, who’s slowly however certainly making his means into the deep finish of the super-welterweight division.