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Andres Ferrari
Xander Zayas will face his toughest test yet when he takes on Jorge Garcia Perez for the vacant WBO junior middleweight title Saturday in New York. The fight at the Theater at Madison Square Garden (ESPN, ESPN+, 9 p.m. ET) will be Zayas’ first for a world title.
Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs) has won three of his past five fights by stoppage, including a ninth-round TKO of Slawa Spomer in February. Zayas, from San Juan, Puerto Rico, but now living in Florida, has been on the fast track ever since his debut in 2019. He is ESPN’s No. 8-ranked fighter at 154 pounds.
Garcia Perez (33-4, 26 KOs), of Sinaloa, Mexico, is riding an eight-fight winning streak since losing to Etoundi Michel William in January 2023. He had impressive victories over 2016 U.S. Olympian Charles Conwell and title contender Kudratillo Abdukakhorov in his past two fights.
In the co-main event, Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington vies for the WBC interim featherweight title in a 12-round fight against Mateus Heita.
Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) is from Brownsville, a neighborhood in Brooklyn that has produced champions such as “Iron” Mike Tyson, Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe and Zab Judah, among others.
Ranked No. 6 in ESPN’s featherweight rankings, Carrington is one of the most talented fighters in boxing, with raw power, speed and excellent defense.
Heita (14-0, 9 KOs), from Namibia, is fighting in the U.S. for the first time — 13 of his 14 fights have taken place in his home country, with the other being in Zimbabwe.
Eight of Heita’s past 10 fights have ended inside the distance, seven in the first five rounds. He fights with an orthodox stance, possesses power in his right hand and has great footwork.
Let’s look at both fights by the numbers, with data from ESPN Research and CompuBox.
Xander Zayas vs. Jorge Garcia Perez
16: Zayas’ age when he signed with Top Rank, making him the youngest fighter ever signed by the company.
3: Zayas’ victories by stoppage in his past five fights.
7: Times that Zayas has fought at Madison Square Garden (Theater or arena), including his past three fights. However, he has only two stoppage wins in those fights (Slawa Spomer and Alessio Mastronunzio).
11: Youth national tournaments won by Zayas, including the U.S. Youth National Championships in 2017 and 2018. He defeated Derrick Jackson by points in the final.
4: Position in ESPN’s ranking of best fighters under the age of 25 in 2023 and 2024.
67.8: Average of punches thrown per round by Zayas, well above the junior middleweight division average (55.5).
30.9: Percentage of Zayas’ body punches landed, well above the division average (28.8%).
-425: Odd for Zayas to win. Zayas is +340 to win by KO/TKO/DQ.
15.4: Average number of punches landed by Garcia Perez in his past three fights. Of those, 5.5 were body punches.
2: Garcia Perez’s victories by first-round KO in his past five fights (against Ilias Essaoudi and Abraham Juarez Ramirez). He needed only 46 seconds to defeat Essaoudi.
78.79: KO percentage for Garcia Perez in his pro career (26 KOs in 33 wins). Zayas’ KO percentage is 61.9 (13 KOs in 21 wins).
750: Punches thrown by Garcia Perez in his upset victory over Conwell in April. He threw 49 more total punches and 90 more power punches than Conwell in that 12-round fight. Garcia Perez won by split decision (115-113, 115-113 and 113-115).
27.8: Percentage of power punches landed against Garcia Perez by Conwell, Abdukakhorov and Angel Cruz — 8.1 per round.
13.1: Average number of power punches landed per round by Garcia Perez out of 42.5 thrown (30.8%) against Conwell, Abdukakhorov and Cruz.
Bruce ‘Shu Shu’ Carrington vs. Mateus Heita
6: Carrington’s wins by stoppage in his past 10 fights, including a third-round TKO of Enrique Vivas in March.
0: Number of 12-round fights for Carrington entering this interim title bout.
9.2: Average per round of punches landed by Carrington’s past five opponents, well below the average for the featherweight division (16).
43.9: Percentage of power punches landed by Carrington against his past five opponents. The average for the featherweight division is 35.1%.
6.1: Jabs landed by Carrington against his past five opponents. The average for the division is just 3.8.
5.2: Average number of rounds fought by Heita — 73 rounds in 14 fights.
32: Number of letters in Heita’s birth name: Mateus Natangwe Nghidimbwasha Heita.
11: Ranking position for Heita with the WBC, which is sanctioning his fight against the No. 1-ranked Carrington.
+1600: Odds for the underdog Heita to win the fight. Carrington is a -5000 favorite.