LAS VEGAS – Xander Zayas will be one of the most interested observers seated ringside Saturday night for the Sebastian Fundora-Chordale Booker bout at Mandalay Bay’s Michelob ULTRA Arena.
The WBO named Zayas its mandatory challenger recently for Fundora’s junior middleweight title. If the heavily favored Fundora defeats Booker in the main event of a Prime Video tripleheader, The Ring has learned representatives for Fundora and Zayas will begin negotiations soon thereafter for them to fight for Fundora’s WBC and WBO 154-pound crowns sometime late in the summer or early in the fall.
Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs), of Coachella, California, is promoted by Sampson Boxing and is affiliated with Al Haymon’s Premier Boxing Champions. Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs), who is ranked No. 1 by the WBO and No. 2 by the WBC, is promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc.
The 22-year-old Zayas, of Sunrise, Florida, secured his shot at the titles Fundora owns by stopping Germany’s Slawa Spomer (20-1, 11 KOs) in the ninth round February 14 in The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Zayas’ handlers would prefer to bring a fight with Fundora upstairs, to Madison Square Garden’s main arena, but Fundora would want to defend his titles against Zayas outside of New York, where the Puerto Rican contender has built a fan base.
“I think I should be the next guy for whoever wins that fight, which I think should be Sebastian Fundora,” Zayas told The Ring last month. “I should be the next guy for Sebastian or Booker. At the end of the day, it’s still boxing. Anything can happen, so whoever the winner is, I should be the next guy to face [him].”
DraftKings lists Fundora as a 14-1 favorite to beat Booker (23-1, 11 KOs), a southpaw from Stamford, Connecticut who is ranked No. 5 by the WBO and No. 13 by the WBC.
Before Booker challenges Fundora in the main event, junior middleweight contender Jesus Ramos (22-1, 18 KOs), of Casa Grande, Arizona, will square off against Argentina’s Guido Schramm (16-3-2, 9 KOs) in the 10-round co-feature.
Prime Video’s three-bout stream is set to start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT with a 10-round middleweight match between Elijah Garcia (16-1, 13 KOs), of Wittmann, Arizona, and Terrell Gausha (24-4-1, 12 KOs), of Encino, California.
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.