NEW YORK — Xander Zayas rose to the occasion Saturday night.

The 22-year-old Puerto Rican was appropriately sharp for the biggest opportunity and first 12-round fight of his five-year pro career. Zayas' technical skill and accuracy enabled him to consistently catch unconventional contender Jorge Garcia with a variety of power punches and jabs in their 154-pound championship clash in The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

Zayas used his legs more and threw fewer punches in the later rounds, yet judges Robin Taylor (119-109), Tom Schreck (118-110) and Tony Paolillo (116-112) scored 11, 10 and eight rounds for him.

CompuBox's unofficial count credited Zayas for landing 69 more punches overall (199 of 522 to 130 of 603). Zayas connected with 50 more jabs (76 of 246 to 26 of 173) and 19 more power shots (123 of 276 to 104 of 430).

Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) won the WBO belt Sebastian Fundora gave up rather than making a mandated defense against the Sunrise, Florida native, who was the No. 1 contender. Mexico’s Garcia (33-5, 26 KOs) came into their fight ranked second in the WBO’s top 15.

Zayas, who made his pro debut when he was just 16, also became boxing’s youngest current world champion.

“It’s amazing,” Zayas told ESPN’s Bernardo Osuna in the ring. “It’s amazing to be here to represent Puerto Rico at the highest level and to just put the pride of my island where it belongs, where it belongs at the top.”

The gangly Garcia often lunged forward with little regard for defense, but he never seemed hurt by Zayas’ hardest punches. Zayas moved more and exchanged less later in their bout because he was wary of taking unnecessary chances against the hard-hitting Garcia, who has never been knocked out.

“Boxing 101 – I had to box my way to victory,” Zayas said. “I knew if I stand in there with him, I was gonna fight his fight. So, we set everything behind that jab. That jab is the lead to everything, is the key to victory, and we showed it today.”

The victory also signified the end of promoter Top Rank’s exclusive eight-year partnership with ESPN, which televised Zayas-Garcia as the main event of a tripleheader.

Garcia, 28, upset previously unbeaten Charles Conwell in his prior bout to earn this title fight versus Zayas. Conwell (21-1, 16 KOs) was a 13-1 favorite, but Garcia edged him by split decision April 19 in Oceanside, California.

The Los Mochis, Mexico, native wasn't as effective against Zayas, who built a big lead, withstood Garcia's rally in the eighth, ninth and 10th rounds and left the ring with a world title.

Zayas continued to move around the ring in the 12th round, but his left hook knocked Garcia's head back with just under 1:20 remaining.

The right hand Zayas landed late in the 11th round made Garcia come after him. Garcia landed a left hook as Zayas backed into the ropes, but the bell rang before he could build on that momentum. Zayas' right to the head, followed by a left to the body, stopped Garcia in his tracks early on.

Zayas didn't engage as much by the 10th round, when he used his legs to stay out of Garcia’s punching range. Garcia landed the flusher punches in those three minutes and continued his rally continued.

A left hook by Garcia landed with about 15 seconds remaining in the ninth round. He landed more punches in the ninth and eighth rounds than in previous ones, in part because he worked his way inside against Zayas.

Zayas' left hook caught Garcia as he came forward with 15 seconds on the clock in the eighth round. Garcia caught Zayas with a left hook of his own five seconds later, backing the younger man to the ropes.

Garcia’s right made Zayas circle him with under a minute to go in the eighth round.

A left hook by Zayas made Garcia reset his feet in the opening minute of the seventh round. Another left hook by Zayas turned Garcia’s body around with about 1:40 on the clock in the seventh round.

Zayas landed a left hook several seconds after taking Garcia’s left hook in the final minute of the sixth round. Garcia's right drilled Zayas with just under 1:40 to go. A right by Zayas landed flush a little more than 30 seconds in.

Zayas drilled Garcia with a right hand as Garcia lunged forward with just over 40 seconds to go in the fifth round. Garcia’s right to the body got Zayas’ attention about 20 seconds in. Zayas reacted by pushing Garcia away from him, into the ropes, but Dali let it go without issuing a warning.

Zayas’ right backed up Garcia a little less than a minute into the fourth round. Another right by Zayas knocked Garcia into the ropes with just under a minute left.

Garcia drilled Zayas with a thudding left hook to the body when there was just under 30 seconds remaining in the third round. Zayas landed a left hook to the body and a left hook to the head in combination about 25 seconds left. Taking those punches made Garcia go after Zayas, but he couldn’t connect.

A left-right combination by Zayas turned Garcia’s head with just under 20 seconds on the clock in the second round. Garcia’s left hook connected with just over a minute to go in the second round.

Garcia landed a left hook barely 40 seconds into the first round. Garcia snuck in two right hands later. They traded stiff jabs just before the first ended.