Junior middleweight contender Xander Zayas (20-0, 12 KOs) defeated Damian Sosa (25-3, 12 KOs) by a one-sided ten-round unanimous decision in a showcase fight on Friday night in the co-feature at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York.
The scores were 100-90, 100-90, and 100-90.
Zayas, 22, had his way against Sosa, hitting him with left hooks to the body, jabs, and straight rights that had him hesistant to throw. Sosa came into the fight known for having a high punch output, but he was afraid to open up against Zayas because he was often being countered.
Sosa was competitive in rounds one and two, landing some good shots and making Zayas cautious about throwing. However, starting in the third, Sosa stopped fighting aggressively and was giving Zayas too much respect. If Sosa had kept fighting hard, Zayas would have had problems because he did not look comfortable with the punches he was getting hit with.
Sosa, 27, ramped up his offense in the ninth and tenth, landing hooks to the head of Zayas. However, he lacked the power to worry Zayas and was nailed repeatedly with counter shots.
Top Rank did a good job of choosing Sosa for Zayas, who doesn’t have the greatest chin and might have problems down the road if he doesn’t improve on his defense. Tonight, Zayas was excellent at blocking shots and getting out of the way of Sosa’s punches.
For Zayas to compete with the power punchers at 154, like Vergil Ortiz Jr, Israil Madrimov, Tim Tszyu, and Serhii Bohachuk, he’s going to need to have his defense on point.
It looks like Top Rank is matching Zayas in a similar manner as Edgar Berlanga when they had him. They’re not taking chances by putting Zayas in with fighters that could give him problems, and it looks like the focus is on building a glittering record.
In the long run, that’s not going to help Zayas because he’s going to be in shock when he gets in with a talented fighter with power, like Tszyu, Madrimov, Bohachuk, or Ortiz Jr.
Sooner or later, Top Rank will need to throw Zayas to the wolves to see how he’ll do. He won’t be transformed into a fake star in the U.S. by fighting lesser fighters. If Zayas is going to be the next Miguel Cotto or Felix Trinidad rather than the next Edgar Berlanga, Top Rank needs to start matching him against thought opposition.
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