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Press Conference Notes: Puerto Rican Star Xander Zayas Aims for First World Title against Mexican Puncher Jorge Garcia PhilBoxing.com Fri, 25 Jul 2025  Tripleheader will be broadcast SATURDAY LIVE on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT NEW YORK CITY (July 24, 2025) — Xander Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs) returns to his home away from home for his first shot at a world title. The Puerto Rican phenom meets Mexican slugger Jorge Garcia (33-4, 26 KOs) for the vacant WBO junior middleweight world championship this Saturday, July 26, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden. Zayas signed with Top Rank at 16. Now 22, with seven MSG appearances under his belt, he’s closing in on the dream he’s chased since first lacing up. In the co-feature, Brooklyn native Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (15-0, 9 KOs) takes on unbeaten Namibian Mateus Heita (14-0, 9 KOs) for the WBC interim featherweight world title. In the eight-round televised opener, Emiliano Fernando Vargas (14-0, 12 KOs) returns against Ecuador’s Alexander Espinoza (20-3-1, 9 KOs) in a junior welterweight battle. Zayas-Garcia, Carrington-Heita, and Vargas-Espinoza will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT. The ESPN+-streamed undercard begins at 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT and includes a trifecta of Caribbean standouts. Dominican welterweight Rohan Polanco (16-0, 10 KOs) takes on veteran Quinton Randall (15-2-1, 3 KOs) in a 10-rounder, while second-generation Puerto Rican star Juanmita Lopez De Jesus (2-0, 1 KO) makes his second appearance at The Theater against Jorge Gonzalez-Sanchez (5-2, 4 KOs) in a four-rounder at junior bantamweight. Yan Santana (14-0, 12 KOs), a power-punching featherweight from the Dominican Republic, faces former world title challenger Aaron Alameda (30-2, 17 KOs) in a 10-round fight. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zanfer Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions, tickets are on sale via Ticketmaster.com. At Thursday's press conference, this is what the fighters said: Xander Zayas “I feel like every camp is completely different and every camp you prepare differently, but throughout my whole career, Top Rank and my team have prepared me for this moment. We always said that when we would fight for a world title, we would do it when we were ready to fight for it and win it. And this is the moment. Fight number 22 at MSG. It's my moment to become a world champion." “Just like he and his family said that 2025 would be their year, I talked with my family and we said that 2025 would be my year. So at the end, we have to go in that ring and do our jobs, and I'm prepared to do whatever it takes to come out victorious.” "I had my team with me throughout my camp. My nutritionist team. My sparring partners. For the first time in my career, I did buy a camp house. So I’ve been enjoying the camp house for the last 10 weeks." "This Saturday, Puerto Rico will have a new world champion at 154 pounds." Jorge Garcia “I’m happy to have been given this opportunity to fight for a world title. It's something that I've always dreamed of ever since I started in this business. And now I'm only days away from making this a reality. I’m ready and I’m here.” “We have adopted a success mindset. And I've been working hard with my team and my promoter. And it looks like we are seeing the results of our hard work because here we are at a big press conference talking about this world title opportunity. I think it’s a good sign.” “My family and I all declared that 2025 would be our year, the year we’d fight for and win a world title. And now, it’s right around the corner. Of course, I still have to get through Xander, but we’re ready. We’ve trained hard for this moment.” "I worked hard for this. I come from the bottom. And I'm happy to be chasing my dream and the most important fight of my life." Bruce Carrington “This is the thing that I've been begging for for the last year and a half, which is to have the opportunity to fight on the championship level. Now we're here. 12 rounds. And we've prepared over time. I'm ready to hop on a scale today and get in this ring and get into a fight right now. I'm just so locked in mentally, and I just can't wait to perform in front of everybody.” “I take every fight as a championship fight, but I'm definitely taking him very seriously. You know, he's 14-0 with nine knockouts. I'm 15-0 with nine knockouts. He deserves to have this opportunity to get this fight. And, but I'm definitely going to show why I am special. And I'm definitely going to show why there are levels to this. And you're going to see that it might not even go to full 12 rounds. It’s going to be a demolition. It's going to be a surgical beatdown.” Mateus Heita “It's actually a big dream, and it's a big thing for me. Here in Africa, every fighter's dream is to fight in the U.S. So fighting at Madison Square Garden is a dream come true for me.” “I don’t see anything special in him. This is just another challenge that I have to overcome in my career. “The preparation has been good. I’m ready for him, I’m ready to fight, and I’m ready to take what’s mine.” "I'm carrying my whole nation on my shoulders. This is a very big opportunity. I'll make my country proud and bring the victory home." Emiliano Fernando Vargas “I just want to continue to grow. At the end of the day, I know I'm young in my career, but at the same time, I know the big plans that we have. And I know God has greater plans. So, I'm just looking to keep my head down and keep on working.” “My last fight ended quickly, as well as the fight before that. I’m looking to get right back to the gym after this fight, but we never look past anyone. I know he's ready to go. I know he trained a long time for this, so I'm ready to go.” “I’m ready to show out in front of all the other beautiful Latino fans in New York. Actually, there's been a lot of love here. I'm very grateful for it, and I'm just, I'm ready to put on another performance because every fight has to be greater than the last fight.” Alexander Espinoza "This is a huge opportunity for me. As a kid, I dreamed of fighting in the big leagues. Top Rank is the big leagues. So, I'm fulfilling the dream of that kid who once desired to fight at Madison Square Garden. I'm ready." "He is a tough opponent. You can't underestimate anyone. But I have prepared for him. I have had good sparring. And I prepared mentally and physically for this." Rohan Polanco "It was a great experience to fight on the Naoya Inoue card in May. There were a lot of great talents on that card. I also feel good about the work that I did in that fight with Fabian Maidana. I learned that you can't knock all of your opponents. So, I got experience from that, and I'm ready for more challenging fights." "I'm ready for a world title shot now. But I don't think it'll happen until I am the mandatory challenger because there are champions that don't want to fight me because they know that I'm very dangerous." Juanmita Lopez De Jesus "I think this is a great opportunity, another chance to show the people that I'm one of the prospects of Puerto Rico. It's my third fight, and this is the greatest scenario. In {my last fight} in Puerto Rico, we were the main event. Now, we are on this type of card. It's great." "In my last fight, I learned that I had to be more calm. I have to work with the pressure because the Puerto Rican people are intense. I learned a lot, and I'm going to show Saturday night that I learned from that fight and am one of the best prospects from Puerto Rico." Yan Santana "This is a dream come true to be fighting at MSG. It also feels good working with my {co-promoter} Miguel Cotto Promotions. It's something incredible. It's something we dreamed of. I'm here to demonstrate what I'm capable of. I'm here to demonstrate this Saturday. We're going to come out on top. I represent the Dominicans. I represent the Latinos, Puerto Ricans... all Latinos. We're coming to show that we're on top." Julius Ballo "It was a tough training camp, so I'm looking forward to putting on a great performance Saturday night." Saturday, July 26 ESPN, ESPN Deportes and ESPN+ (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) Xander Zayas vs. Jorge Garcia, 12 Rounds, Vacant WBO Junior Middleweight World Title Bruce Carrington vs. Mateus Heita 12 Rounds, Vacant WBC Interim Featherweight World Title Emiliano Fernando Vargas vs. Alexander Espinoza, 8 rounds, Vargas' Jr. NABF Junior Welterweight Title ESPN+ (6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT) Rohan Polanco vs. Quinton Randall, 10 rounds, Polanco's WBO Intercontinental Welterweight Title Juanmita Lopez De Jesus vs. Jorge Gonzalez-Sanchez, 4 rounds, Junior Bantamweight Yan Santana vs. Aaron Alameda, 10 rounds, Vacant NABO Featherweight Title Steven Navarro vs. Cristopher Rios, 8 rounds, Navarro's Jr. NABF Junior Bantamweight Title Julius Ballo vs. Brandan Ayala, 4 rounds, Featherweight  |
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