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Andreas Hale
WBO junior middleweight champion Xander Zayas and WBA champion Abass Baraou are set to meet in a title unification fight on Jan. 31 at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, sources confirmed with ESPN.
Tha Boxing Voice was the first to report the fight being made.
Zayas — who signed a marketing deal with Bad Bunny’s Rimas Sports — recently told ESPN that he was set to fight in his hometown of Puerto Rico in January against an opponent to be determined. Now that his opponent has been confirmed to be a fellow titleholder, Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) will have an opportunity become a unified champion.
Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs) won the interim WBA title in August with a hard-fought unanimous decision over Yoenis Tellez and was elevated to full champion after Terence Crawford vacated to fight Canelo Alvarez.
Baraou, 31, has won eight consecutive fights since losing by split decision to Jack Culcay in August 2020. He is currently ranked as the No. 9 junior middleweight in ESPN’s divisional rankings.
Zayas, 23, is currently boxing’s youngest champion after winning the vacant WBO title by defeating Jorge Garcia Perez by unanimous decision in July. He is ESPN’s No. 4-ranked junior middleweight.
Top Rank recently announced that Zayas will host a news conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico. It is not yet known what platform the fight will be broadcast.