Xander Zayas fights to become the youngest unified world champion in the sport
Xander Zayas fights Abass Baraou for the WBO and WBA super-welterweight world titles in Puerto Rico on Saturday; if Zayas is victorious he stands to become the youngest unified world champion in the sport; Zayas sees himself as part of boxing's new wave
Saturday 31 January 2026 00:06, UK
Xander Zayas stands to become the youngest unified world champion in the sport today if he can beat Abass Baraou.
Puerto Rico's Zayas, the WBO super-welterweight titlist, fights WBA 154lb belt-holder Baraou in San Juan on Saturday night.
It will be the 23-year-old Zayas' first fight since winning his world championship. "I'm in it for the glory!" he told Sky Sports.
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"It doesn't matter about anything else. I'm in it for the glory. I'm in the history books right now and I will continue to be. That's what I aim for."
Zayas became boxing's youngest reigning world champion when he beat Jorge Garcia Perez at Madison Square Garden in July to pick up the WBO belt. Abdullah Mason, an even younger American, then overtook him in November when he became a world lightweight titlist.
Zayas is taking a risk but is relishing the chance to cross another milestone. "Being able to be remembered as a fighter that was always facing the best and I was always looking to make history," he said.
"I did that when I became the youngest world champion, for a slight minute, and now I'm doing that going into my first title defence for a unification and, after I win, becoming the youngest unified champion at the moment.
"I just feel like history follows me, or I follow it and it's just been an amazing ride."
Baraou though is a formidable opponent. "We know what he brings to the table. A lot of pressure, a lot of volume," Zayas said. "It has the best of both worlds, you have a pure boxer that knows how to adjust, that is strong fast, sharp. You have a fighter that knows how to put pressure, throws a lot of volume."
Fighting in Puerto Rico, in a bout of this magnitude, will be a special moment for Zayas.
"Of course I wanted to fight in the island for a long time now," he said. "Now I'm a champion, now I'm bringing the biggest fight at 154lbs to the island in front of my people, in a unification. It's everything that I've dreamed of."
He sees himself as part of a "new wave" of global boxing talent.
"It's beautifull to see it. That's just how boxing and the world is, that's just life. New generations come in, pushing away the other ones and that's just that. When my time comes and I'm on the way out, there's going to be another set of stars," Zayas reflected.
"The biggest goal of my life is in front of me. The biggest goal of my whole career was becoming a world champion. Now becoming unified. There's nothing else.
"A lot to prove, a lot to lose. He's a dangerous fighter. I'm expecting the best version of him and come January 31 I'm going to show one more time why I am who I say I am."
