Rising Puerto Rican WBO world champ Xander Zayas is back on January 31st fighting a unified title fight in San Juan, Puerto Rico and the stakes are high for many reasons.
Xander Zayas is readying to defend his newly won world title later this month in arguably his biggest pro moment to date.
The unbeaten 23-year-old Puerto Rican is the reigning WBO junior middleweight world champ and is set for a test on the biggest stage of his young career. That's, when he faces Germany’s WBA titleholder Abass Baraou in high stakes unification showdown. The bout takes place Saturday, January 31st, at the iconic Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan and it's giving the hometown favorite a chance to make history in front of his own people.
Zayas–Baraou represents just the second world title unification ever staged on the island. For Zayas, the stakes are enormous: victory would make him the youngest active unified champion in boxing and the first Boricua to unify world titles on Puerto Rican soil.
Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) began his rise in 2022, capturing regional belts with victories over seasoned Mexican contenders Elias Espadas and Alexis Salazar. He went on to make six successful defenses of those secondary belts, while climbing to the No. 1 spot in the WBO rankings. Last July, he fulfilled a lifelong dream by outpointing Jorge Garcia in New York to claim the world title, becoming boxing’s youngest champion at the time.
Meanwhile, Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs), a decorated amateur who turned pro in 2018, captured the WBA interim crown with a stunning upset decision of Cuban standout Yoenis Tellez last August, punctuated with a dramatic 12th-round knockdown. Baraou was elevated to full WBA champion status a month later.
As for Zayas, he spoke from his training camp late last week,
“This is the best opportunity of my career, not just because of what’s at stake, but because I’m coming back home in front of my people. It’s been five years, and I’ve wanted to return ever since, but I knew I had to wait for the right moment. Now it’s here on January 31, when I return as a world champion.”
“I want to be the first Puerto Rican to unify titles on the island. That’s really important to me because I want to keep making history and building my legacy. ”
“Everybody is used to seeing champions take softer touches for their first defense. But because I’m going back to my island, I needed to do something big and give something special to the fans.
"Baraou is also
making his first defense, so we’ll see two young fighters who want to
show that big unification fights are still possible.”
“Baraou is a good, aggressive fighter. People underestimate him because
he’s not well known in the United States, but I’ve shared the ring with
him several times in sparring. I know what he brings, and he knows what I
bring, so it’s going to be a big test for both of us on January 31.”
The event is promoted by Top Rank in association with ICON+, Move Concerts, and Noah Assad Presents.
At this time, there is still not a broadcast partner for Top Rank for televising the fight.