Zayas, 22, becomes youngest current world champ

Xander Zayas is not the archetypal Puerto Rican boxer to consciousness close astatine location successful New York, but connected Saturday, helium acceptable himself isolated from each who came before, becoming the youngest existent satellite champion by capturing the vacant WBO inferior middleweight rubric with a slick, ascendant determination triumph implicit Jorge Garcia Perez astatine the Theater astatine Madison Square Garden.

Fighting astatine the Garden -- the theatre oregon large arena -- for the eighth clip successful his career, Zayas (22-0, 13 oregon 14 KOs) was successful power from the opening bell, utilizing elusive footwork and counterpunching to quell the awkward but almighty discourtesy of Garcia Perez. As Zayas picked up connected his opponent's timing, helium maintained region -- adjacent erstwhile Garcia Lopez, lasting successful a country aft absorbing a combination, tried to question Zayas in. When the awkward Garcia Lopez did negociate to adjacent the distance, Zayas tied him up.

In the end, each 3 judges saw the combat Zayas' mode (116-112, 118-110, 119-109), handing Garcia Perez (33-4, 26 KOs), a 28-year-old from Mexico, saw an eight-fight winning streak travel to an end.

In the last 30 seconds of Round 6, Zayas punctuated an speech with a close manus that sent Garcia Lopez stumbling backward into the ropes. But the Mexican combatant righted himself and kept coming. And Zayas continued to prime him apart.

Just erstwhile Garcia Lopez appeared to beryllium fading, helium had a beardown eighth round, throwing straighter punches successful combinations. But successful the ninth, Zayas returned to the relation of matador, avoiding harm from the stumbling Garcia Lopez and landing his ain combinations. He was successful power the remainder of the way, landing astatine a precocious percent and making Garcia Lopez miss.

According to CompuBox, Zayas landed 50 much jabs and 19 much powerfulness punches than Garcia Lopez contempt throwing 81 less punches. Garcia connected connected 22% of his full punches and 24% of his powerfulness punches, portion Zayas connected connected 38% of his full punches and 45% of his powerfulness punches. Zayas besides held a 59-31 borderline successful assemblage shots landed.

When Zayas was asked what the triumph meant to him, helium began, "Man, since I was 5 years aged ... " and past helium switched to Spanish for an extended answer, to grant the Puerto Rican fans successful attendance.

When Zayas yet switched backmost to English, helium said, "It's amazing. It's astonishing to correspond Puerto Rico astatine the highest level and to conscionable enactment the pridefulness of my land wherever it belongs -- astatine the top."

Zayas joins a lineage of fighters with Puerto Rican practice who person won the inferior middleweight satellite championship, including International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Wilfred Benitez, Felix Trinidad and Miguel Cotto.

Zayas, who is No. 8 successful the ESPN inferior middleweight rankings, is 22 years, 324 days old. The next-youngest champ is welterweight Brian Norman Jr. astatine 24 years, 245 days.

Zayas joins a abbreviated database of fighters who person won the inferior middleweight title astatine 22 oregon younger. Among them is Fernando Vargas, who won the IBF rubric successful 1998 astatine property 21. Vargas' 21-year-old lad Emilianio fought spectacularly connected Saturday's undercard, moving to 15-0 with a 42-second knockout of inferior welterweight Alexander Espinosa. It was the 21-year-old's sixth consecutive knockout, the 13th of his career.

That combat was close earlier the co-main event, successful which Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington won the vacant WBC interim featherweight rubric with a one-sided determination triumph implicit Mateus Heita.

Carrington (16-0, 9 oregon 10 KOs), who is 28 and from Brooklyn, was a -5000 favourite and it showed. After a comparatively competitory back-and-forth for the archetypal 3 rounds, Carrington picked up the timing of Heita's jabs and began connecting to the assemblage and caput with predominant close manus counters.

Heita took respective coagulated punches to the caput successful the mediate rounds and was not adjacent wobbled. But his enactment level diminished, and Carrington ramped up his attack, portion eluding astir of the large punches Heita threw his way. Carrington kept throwing slick combinations until the last bell, and the judges rewarded him with a unanimous decision, with 1 of them scoring each circular his mode (120-108, 119-109, 119-109).

The nonaccomplishment was the archetypal of Heita's career, dropping the 27-year-old from Namibia to 14-1 successful his archetypal combat extracurricular Africa. Carrington is No. 6 successful ESPN's featherweight rankings.

After receiving his interim belt, Carrington turned his absorption connected WBO champion Rafael Espinosa, who was astatine ringside. "I spot you successful the crowd," helium said, pointing. "I privation you, bro. You already know. My squad has called your team. I privation to fight."