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January 27, 2024
Source: Boxing Scene
Photo Source: Boxing Scene
Xander Zayas has a mission to accomplish in 2025: becoming a junior middleweight world champion.
The 22-year-old Puerto Rican is billed to start the year on February 14 against Slawa Spomer on the undercard of Denys Berinchyk-Keyshawn Davis lightweight championship bout at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Zayas looks forward to proving his worth at 154.
“I don't know [Spomer] very well, meaning I've never seen him in person. But I've seen a couple videos of him and, like I said, he's tough and durable,” Zayas told BoxingScene. “He can take a punch, or at least from the guys he's been fighting, he can take a punch. I feel like he's going to come ready. He doesn't know how to lose.
“He's 20-0, so I feel like he's going to try to compete till he gets in the ring and understands that there's a level to this. He's a good fighter. I'm better than him and I'm going to show it come February 14.”
Zayas, also 20-0 and with 12 knockouts to Spoma’s 11, said he’s been strategizing on how to take advantage of the weaknesses of Spoma. The Florida-based Puerto Rican revealed that his camp has been preparing him on speed, power, combination, counterattacks, and defense in order to deal with his tough German opponent.
Zayas is coming off an impressive decision win over Damian Sosa last September. That win over Sosa was his second distance victory in 2024 after a win over Patrick Teixeira three months prior.
“Last time around, I had a tough guy in front of me and I showcased a lot of my defense and a lot of my abilities inside the ring on how much I've grown and how much I've gotten better. And I feel like this fight [against Spomer] won't be an exception.
“Obviously, I’ve got to focus on February 14, take care of the job at hand, put on a spectacular show, just something out of this world. And then maybe start talking about world championship level types of fights.”
Should Zayas get a shot at a world title, it could be against WBC and WBO champ Sebastian Fundora, who’s scheduled to defend his titles against Chordale Booker on March 22.
However, Zayas must wait for the outcome of Fundora-Booker to face the winner. Zayas said he would be ready for whoever comes out victorious.
“I feel like Sebastian Fundora doesn’t have concrete yet. Maybe we can do something for the summer if it's still available. I'm No. 1 in the WBO and No. 3 in the WBC. So, I feel like it's a fight that after I take care of business on February 14, it makes sense.
“I've been saying it. I will continue to say that I'm ready for the top-level guys. I'm ready for what they call the elite level guys because I know I'm an elite level fighter. So now it's time to show it. Now it's time to put it all into perspective and showcase to the world why I belong at the top of the division.”
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