Xander Zayas headed on over to the box office, purchased a ticket, and sat front row as Sebastian Fundora and Chordale Booker got it on at the Michelob Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs) is a fan of the sport, but his trip to Vegas had nothing to do with being a spectator. More than anything, it was business-related.

Although he was sure that Fundora would win, anything can happen in the sport. But, the script went according to plan as Booker was pummeled, losing via fourth-round stoppage.

Now, Fundora has options. Or so he thought. Errol Spence Jr., Bakhram Murtazaliev, and Vergil Ortiz were all listed as fighters he would like to face. However, Zayas, thanks to his position in the WBO, believes that those aforementioned fighters will have to take a temporary backseat.

“I’m the next guy up,” said Zayas to Sean Zittel.

Luckily for Zayas, he won’t have to force anyone’s hand. Not only is he the number one ranked junior middleweight in the WBO, but he was recently mandated. Meaning, Fundora’s team will have a certain amount of time to work out a deal with team Zayas. If the two sides fail to do so, they’ll enter purse bids. Either way, Zayas is correct, he’s next in line for a shot at the unified champion.

Of course, if a more financially rewarding fight came across Fundora’s table, he could opt to drop his WBO title and go in another direction. Ultimately, that could still favor Zayas. If things played out that way, the two highest-ranked fighters would go head-to-head for their vacant title. That would be Zayas and Charles Conwell.

Zayas is fine with taking that route but he would feel even more satisfied if he were given the opportunity to forcefully strip the current champion of his title.

“If he doesn’t fight me, he has to vacate that title," continued Zayas. "It’s up to him. I want to fight him, I want to take the title from him.”