Puerto Rico’s Xander Zayas has become boxing’s youngest active world champion at the age of 22 by gaining a unanimous points victory over Mexico’s Jorge Garcia Perez to win the vacant WBO light-middleweight title.
At New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Zayas secured a dominant points victory by margins of 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109.
“This is a dream come true,” said Zayas, who turned professional at 17. “This is beautiful. To see my Puerto Rican fans here, this is amazing. I could never dream of anything better than this.”
Unbeaten Zayas, who has won all 22 of his professional fights, took control of the contest with quick jabs to the body and powerful rights.
Garcia, suffering only his fifth loss in his 38th bout, managed to go toe-to-toe with Zayas in a thrilling sixth round, but could not maintain that pressure as Zayas was able to show his class and dominate the later rounds.
“I had to box my way to victory,” added Zayas. “I knew if I stood in front of him I’d be fighting his fight. So, I did everything behind the jab. The jab was the key to victory, and we showed that.”
US-born Puerto Rican Wilfred Benitez holds the record for being the youngest-ever world champion as he was 17 years and 176 days when he won the WBA light-welterweight belt in March 1976.