Xander Zayas didn’t necessarily expect Jorge Garcia to upset Charles Conwell.
The unbeaten Puerto Rican contender wasn’t stunned, either, that
Garcia beat
Conwell, who was listed as 13-1 favorite to win their junior middleweight match three months ago. Garcia’s split-decision victory over Cleveland’s Conwell (21-1, 16 KOs) propelled him into his 12-round fight with
Zayas on Saturday night in New York for the vacant WBO 154-pound title.
“I wasn’t surprised at all,” Zayas told The Ring when asked about Garcia’s most recent win. “Conwell is a one-dimensional fighter. If he cannot get his game plan on, he doesn’t know how to adjust. I wasn’t expecting him to lose, but I was expecting that if he wasn’t able to make his game plan work, he wasn’t gonna be able to adjust, and he did exactly that.”
Garcia (33-4, 26 KOs) beat Conwell by the same score, 115-113, on the cards of judges Chris Migliore and Damian Walton. Judge Lou Moret scored Conwell a 115-113 winner April 19 at Frontwave Arena in Oceanside, California.
Mexico’s Garcia, 28, earned the No. 2 spot in the WBO’s 154-pound rankings by beating Conwell. Zayas, 22, is ranked No. 1 by the WBO.
They’ll fight for the title Sebastian Fundora vacated when he decided to face Australia’s Tim Tszyu in a rematch rather than making a mandated defense of his WBO belt against Zayas. Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs), of Coachella, California, stopped Tszyu (25-3, 18 KOs) after seven rounds last Saturday night on the Manny Pacquiao-Mario Barrios undercard at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Meanwhile, Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs), of Sunrise, Florida, feels he is much more equipped than Conwell to beat Garcia.
“Jorge Garcia Perez obviously is a Mexican warrior,” Zayas said. “He’s gonna come forward. I think it’s the only style he’s gonna bring. I think it’s the only opportunity he thinks he has, to come forward and try to pressure me. Strong fighter, a lotta experience, obviously beat Charles Conwell. Deserves and earned his opportunity to be in this position. But for me, he’s the next step in my career and the most important one to become a world champion.”
DraftKings considers Zayas a 4-1 favorite to beat Garcia in a 12-round main event ESPN will televise from The Theater at Madison Square Garden. ESPN’s tripleheader is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. ET (6 p.m. PT).
Garcia has won eight straight fights since his 10-round, split-decision defeat to Brazil’s Etoundi Michel William (then 10-0) in January 2023 in Mexico City. He has beaten three undefeated fighters during that stretch – Hector Andres Reyes (then 21-0), Angel Cruz Johnson (then 10-0) and Conwell (then 21-0).
“I feel like we’re both in the same situation,” Zayas said. “It’s gonna be a life-changing opportunity for me, too. The only difference is that I’ve been in the spotlight since I debuted at 16. He hasn’t, but I come from the same place he comes from. We struggled the same way he struggled. I earned my opportunity the same way he earned it, so I feel we’re both in the same boat. We have to take advantage of the biggest opportunity of our lifetime, so I’m ready to do that Saturday night.”
Keith Idec is a senior writer and columnist for The Ring. He can be reached on X @idecboxing.