Xander Zayas targets Vergil Ortiz Jr

When Xander Zayas beat leading competitor Jorge Garcia last month in New york city, he became not only the youngest world champ in guys’s boxing, but likewise a large player in one of the sport’s most talent-ridden divisions.The 154-pound weight class boasts, among others, Vergil Ortiz Jr., Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Sebastian Fundora– all of whom would provide a strong test to the 22-year-old Puerto Rican. But it’s the WBC interim champ, Ortiz, that piques Zayas’ interest the most out of the star names at extremely welterweight.Advertisement “Vergil Ortiz [is who I most want to face out of the 3],” WBO champ Zayas informed Uncrowned and DAZN’s” Ariel X Ade”show on Tuesday.”Sebastian Fundora [is No. 2],’Boots’Ennis [is No. 3] “Vergil Ortiz is going to be a substantial fight here on the East Coast for Puerto Rico and Mexico. Him being from Texas [with Mexican descent], [I’m] from Puerto Rico [and fight] a lot in New York City. I seem like that, on the East Coast, will be a crazy battle.””[ Ortiz is] the battle that I’ve been calling for since [Ortiz was] looking for opponents and they called me to be one of the opponents,”Zayas continued. “I stated yes. However in general, I feel like Vergil Ortiz is a fantastic fighter. He’s revealed it throughout his entire career. I’ve been absolutely nothing but considerate to him and his team. He appears like he wishes to throw shots at me, [however] there’s one fact and one reality just: I’m a champ, and he’s not. “Ad Stress in between Ortiz and Zayas reached a boiling point this past week

on social media

when Ortiz gave Zayas a backhanded compliment for winning his title, mentioning that Zayas was handed a”gift “with the challenger he was ordered to box for an uninhabited belt, compared to Ortiz, who battled Serhii Bohachuk and Israil Madrimov without a world title on the line.The competition initially began after a fight in between Ortiz and Ennis fell apart for the Dmitry Bivol vs. Artur Beterbiev 2 undercard earlier this year because the fighters signed term sheets to eliminate each other at different weights. Zayas stated he accepted an offer to change Ennis in the Ortiz fight, however Madrimov was eventually revealed as Ortiz’s opponent for the program, infuriating Zayas.With Ortiz and Zayas, boxing has a ready-made rivalry that pits not only 2 of the best young fighters in the sport, but also two of the greatest boxing nations– Mexico and Puerto Rico– in another installment of a historical competition.”Very same thing with ‘Boots ‘here on the East Coast, “Zayas said of Ennis, who’s sold more than 30,000 tickets on the East Coast in his previous three fights.” Him being a former world champ going up a weight class [makes it another huge battle] I have actually got to see him at [super welterweight] first; [welterweight] is a whole various story. That’s why I selected him at third. 2nd one– Sebastian Fundora, I chose him due to the fact that I was the compulsory [for him] and I believed that fight was going to occur, and so I still want to showcase that I can beat him.” Xander Zayas has no lack of alternatives after winning the WBO belt.(Sarah Stier through Getty Images)When Fundora held both the WBC and WBO very welterweight belts, Zayas was his compulsory. Fundora, nevertheless, selected to give up the belt earlier this year in pursuit of a Tim Tszyu rematch instead of face Zayas. Fundora ultimately battered and stopped Tszyu in the second

conference a week before Zayas ended up being WBO champ, putting them on comparable time schedules.Advertisement Zayas informed ESPN in an interview that played as part of the broadcast for his world title battle that he agreed to all terms asked of him for a Fundora bout. Representatives of Fundora, according to Zayas, then included a rehydration stipulation, which Zayas refused to accept, and it caused Fundora vacating the belt.”After the battle [versus Perez], [Top Rank promoter] Bob Arum told me that I was going to fight my first title defense in Puerto Rico, “Zayas said. “I’m looking forward to that since I have actually been wishing to battle on my island for a long period of time. My [last] fight [

there] was my 3rd or fourth fight as a professional. I can’t wait to be back. I understand that individuals desire me to be back on the island. After [Arum] stated that, a lot of individuals were hyped up back in Puerto Rico, so hopefully we can make that take place in December. “Zayas has not battled in his native Puerto Rico because he beat Marklin Bailey in his 4th expert contest in 2020. For monetary factors, it’s generally been uncommon for a major boxing event to happen on the island in recent years, instead of in a major city in the United States with a heavy Puerto Rican population. Subriel Matias ‘IBF homecoming title defense versus Liam Paro in June 2024 was an exception, but with Zayas ‘fame still constructing and not yet at the level of Amanda Serrano or Edgar Berlanga, it is possible that we could see him heading in his native home before the year’s out.