Xander Zayas says he’s ready for Vergil Ortiz Jr. following his ten-round unanimous decision win over Patrick Teixeira on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Zayas (19-0, 12 KOs) didn’t show the kind of power or ferociousness against the former junior middleweight champion Teixeira (35-4, 25 KOs) that suggests that he would be successful in a fight against Vergil Ortiz (21-0, 21 KOs).
Besides Vergil Ortiz, Zayas says he’s ready to fight Terence Crawford, Sebastian Fundora, or Tim Tszyu. His Top-rank promoters will likely not put him in with any of those fighters.
The “Teofimo Model”
Top Rank will likely skillfully navigate Xander Zayas’s career, keeping him away from the dangerous guys he mentioned above and focusing on weaker opposition, like we saw tonight with him fighting Teixeira, who has a 3-3 record in his last six fights. T
Top Rank needs to keep the 21-year-old Zyas far away from those top fighters at 154 and wait for some of them to retire or get old. If one of the belts becomes available with a weak contender, Top Rank should position Zayas to fight for that title.
Then if he wins it, milk it the same way Teofimo Lopez is doing at 140 with his WBO belt by fighting soft opposition like him. They’ll have Zayas follow the Teofimo model, fighting fringe-level opposition.
The 21-year-old Zayas was victorious against Teixeira by the scores 100-90, 100-90 and 99-91.
“I did it in amazing fashion against a former world champion and showed that he can’t hang in there with me. Now, I’m ready for the big names,” said Zayas, crowing about his win over Teixeira, who had lost three out of his previous six fights before Saturday’s match against him.
Zayas Confident in Abilities Against Top Competition
“Soon they’ll have a world champion at 154 pounds,” said Xander Zayas to the media on Saturday night following his win over Patrick Teixeira at Madison Square Garden in New York.
“I feel like I’m ready. I showed it today,” said Zayas when asked if he’s ready to fight Vergil Ortiz, Tim Tszyu, Sebastian Fundora, and Terence Crawford. “Before you go 12, you have to go 10.
“There’s a lot of big names in the division. Fundora, Vergil Ortiz. Whoever they give me next, I’ll be ready for,” said Zayas.
Unfortunately, the problem is that Zayas is a boring defensive fighter with marginal power and a safety-first mindset.
Like Shakur, Zayas goes out of his way not to get hit, and he’s boring to watch, and that style isn’t going to work against the big hitters at 154. Zayas will fail spectacularly against this murderers’ row at 154:
– Vergil Ortiz Jr.
– Terence Crawford
– Errol Spence Jr.
– Tim Tszyu
– Sebastian Fundora
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