Xander Zayas hails Terence Crawford as leading junior middleweight

Undefeated junior middleweight contender Xander Zayas is on course to make a splash in a talent-laden 154-pound division.

Zayas (19-0, 12 KOs) is expected to slug it out with Damian Sosa (25-2, 12 KOs) on Sept. 27 in a Top Rank on ESPN event at The Madison Square Garden Theater in New York. Though Puerto Rico’s Zayas knows a win over Sosa is unlikely to secure an outright title shot, he’s nonetheless eyeing showdowns with the division’s elite.

In an interview with BoxingScene, the 21-year-old Zayas hailed pound-for-pound king and WBA’s 154-pound titlist Terence “Bud” Crawford as the best junior middleweight in the world. Zayas believes Crawford deserves to be celebrated as the best 154-pound fighter despite having just one fight to his credit at his new weight.

“I’ll probably have to say, other than me, Terrence Crawford,” Zayas said. “Because of the trajectory, the history doesn’t become history if it wasn’t great. Nobody remembers the guys that were on the bench when Michael Jordan was winning championships.

“Everybody remembers that the guy that was winning the championship was Michael Jordan. It’s the same thing with Terence Crawford. He’s been doing it for so long. Going down to ‘35, ‘40. Becoming undisputed at ‘40, becoming undisputed at ‘47. History speaks for itself and even though he’s moving up and he’s only faced one guy, he’s still the best.

“You have to be really good and determined to beat him (Terence Crawford) and right now, even though he has only faced one guy, you gotta give the props, you gotta give credit where credit’s due.”

Zayas, rated No.3 by WBO, No.6 by WBC, and No.7 by IBF, is eager to get involved with these high-profile fights. According to him, the likes of unified WBC and WBO champion Sebastien Fundora, Bakhram Murtazaliev (IBF titlist), and newly-crowned WBA beltholder Terence Crawford are all options he could explore in the future.

“To be honest, any of them. Sebastian Fundora, Terence Crawford, depending on what he wants to do. If he wants to move up to ‘68 and fight another boxer, there are a lot of names in the division. Errol Spence is moving up.

“I just said Tim Tszyu is also moving, Josh Kelly, I mean, there’s a lot of big names that I want to find in the division, but I know my opportunity will come.”

Zayas has plans of winning a title at 154, becoming undisputed champ, then moving up to middleweight.

“I do have plans on moving up in weight, but my goal at 154 is to be the king of the division. Nobody touched me in that division. If possible, win all the belts. That’s been a goal of mine since I was little. But, again, I just gotta start with one first. Once I get the first one, then it’s time to take over.”

Bernard Neequaye is a sports journalist with a specialty in boxing coverage. He wrote a boxing column titled “From The Ringside” in his native Ghana for years. He can be reached on X (formerly Twitter) at @BernardNeequaye, LinkedIn at Bernard Neequaye and through email at [email protected].