Zayas Boxed His Way Through Garcia’s Pressure to Claim His

Xander Zayas won the vacant WBO junior-middleweight championship by defeating Jorge Garcia on July 26, 2025. The twelve-round unanimous decision at The Theater at Madison Square Garden produced scores of 116–112, 118–110 and 119–109.

Garcia’s aggression demanded an early adjustment

Garcia came forward with wide punches, trying to turn his first title opportunity into a physical exchange. Zayas avoided many of those attacks and began working behind quick jabs to the body.

The Puerto Rican added right hands while looking to keep the contest at a distance where his boxing could take effect. Garcia nevertheless remained determined to force exchanges in the center of the ring.

A sixth-round battle gave way to cleaner counterpunching

Both fighters traded hooks during a lively sixth round. The confrontation gave Garcia opportunities to test the unbeaten favorite rather than allowing an entirely comfortable march through the middle rounds.

Zayas regained clearer control in the seventh and eighth with his counters. By the championship rounds, he was consistently outboxing Garcia and protecting the advantage built through the earlier adjustments.

The decision completed a rapid rise through the professional ranks

Zayas became a world champion at twenty-two and improved to 22–0 with thirteen knockouts. He had signed with Top Rank at sixteen before making his professional debut at seventeen.

Garcia entered after upsetting Charles Conwell in April, but could not reproduce that result against Zayas. Every judge favored the Puerto Rican after the final bell, awarding him his first world title in a division where he had steadily developed toward championship competition.

Sources

• Top Rank: scores, round-by-round adjustments and winning record
• WBO: vacant championship and Zayas’s signing background
• BoxingScene: July 26 official decision totals

Tags

Boxing, Combat Sports