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Press Conference Notes: Puerto Rican Star Xander Zayas Ready for Saturday's Hometown Unification Battle against Abass Baraou PhilBoxing.com Fri, 30 Jan 2026  Zayas-Baraou headlines an action-packed bill streaming LIVE on the Top Rank Classics FAST Channel beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Jan. 29, 2026) — Puerto Rican star Xander Zayas has waited nearly six years for a homecoming. He returns as a world champion on the cusp of making history. WBO junior middleweight world champion Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) will square off against WBA king Abass Baraou (17-1, 9 KOs) this Saturday, Jan. 31, at Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. In just the second unification ever held on Puerto Rican soil, the 23-year-old has the chance to become the youngest active unified champion and the first Boricua to do it on home turf. Baraou, a seasoned road warrior, is unfazed by the task at hand. In the 10-round welterweight co-feature, Dominican contender Rohan “El Rayo” Polanco (17-0, 10 KOs) takes on Mexican veteran Christian Gomez (23-6-1, 21 KOs). Additionally, Juanmita Lopez De Jesus (4-0, 2 KOs), the 19-year-old son of former world champion Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez, will face Conner Goade (8-4-2, 7 KOs) in a six-round tilt at junior bantamweight. The undercard will also include the junior middleweight debut of Giovani Santillan (34-1, 18 KOs), as well as the return of rising Dominican middleweight Euri Cedeño (13-0-1, 12 KOs), in separate 10-rounders. Santillan will lock horns with Courtney Pennington (17-11-3, 7 KOs), while Cedeño squares off against Etoundi Michel William (16-2, 12 KOs). Zayas-Baraou, Polanco-Gomez, the return of second-generation Puerto Rican star Juanmita Lopez De Jesus, and additional undercard action will stream for free on the Top Rank Classics FAST channel in the U.S. beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT. Zayas vs. Baraou will begin at approximately 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT. To watch on mobile or desktop, visit trboxing.co/TopRankClassics. To watch on your smart TV, check the availability of FAST channel apps and search for Top Rank Classics on The Roku Channel, Tubi, or Vizio. Promoted by Top Rank, in association with ICON+, Move Concerts, and Noah Assad Presents, tickets are on sale via Ticketera.com. This is what the fighters said at Thursday's press conference. Xander Zayas “This is what I have been working for since I was 5 years old. {18} years as a fighter, seven as a pro. I got a world title in my last fight at 23. I’m ready to become a unified world champion and to keep making history. This is the biggest moment of my life. I deserve to be here. I worked hard to be here. This is where I belong.” “I’m expecting the best version of Abass Baraou. I’m expecting something I haven’t seen before. We sparred almost two years ago. But he’s a champion now. And we both have grown and learned. We've also experienced different things. So, I’m expecting the best version of him because he’s going to get the best version of me. That’s for sure.” “This is the only fight {this weekend} where you’ll have two world titles on the line. It’s the only fight where you’ll see two champions putting everything on the line to become a unified champion. Tune in because there will be fireworks, and I’m going to make history one more time.” Abass Baraou “I go everywhere to make my dreams come true. I’ve been doing the work for a long time. Being here is amazing. And I can’t wait for Saturday night.” “Winning the title was amazing. It was one of my favorite moments so far. I worked so hard for this moment. It was hard to get there. As you can tell, my team was happy as well. And securing that win opened up bigger opportunities, like Saturday’s fight. So I really enjoyed that moment.” “Everyone knows we sparred. But I don’t put too much focus on it. I spar to learn. When we sparred, it was always good work. But a fight is different. Gloves are different. No headgear. It’s just me and him in the ring with no helping hand. It’s going to be way different than any sparring. I’m focused on this fight, and I’m looking forward to it.” “I’m an experienced fighter. I have a great amateur background. And I’ve come to Puerto Rico to put it all on the line. We know that Zayas is fast and talented. So, as a boxing fan myself, I feel this is a great fight to watch. Tune in to see how I pull this off.” Rohan Polanco “I hope that the title opportunity comes this year. I have been fighting for some time, and I’ve been ranked for a while as well. I’ve been positioning myself among the best. So, I’m just waiting for the opportunity. I feel I am ready. I have lots of experience. I just need the opportunity.” “I would love to fight {WBO champion} Devin Haney. I’m ranked in that organization. I think that would be the easiest fight to make. I’m ready. I’m going to beat everyone.” Christian Gomez “We’re going to come forward, but we’re also going to try different strategies that we worked on in camp.” “I come from a family of boxers. Even my mother was a boxer. This sport is very important to us.” “I think experience dictates how you perform in a fight. But also, when you see the abilities of your opponent, you also tailor your camp for that.” Juanmita Lopez De Jesus “This first year as a pro has been great. I’ve gotten a lot of experience. I know Conner is an experienced fighter. But I’m going to show that I’m on a different level.” “Camp has been great. I had a cut in my last fight, so I had to wait three months to return. So, I was able to prepare more. I’m going to show that I’ve grown a lot.” Conner Goade “I’ve had a lot of fights that could have gone either way. But that’s alright. You’ll see what happens on Saturday night.” “I’ve got a couple more rounds fought than him. But I also know he has more amateur fights. So, it’ll even out.” Giovani Santillan “This is my first time fighting at 154 pounds, and I’m excited to put on a show here in Puerto Rico. I want to show everyone that there is a new fighter in this weight class who is coming for the belts.” “I feel good at this weight now. It shows in my training and preparation. We focused less on making the weight and more on the actual fight.” “I have big goals for 2026. I want to fight for a world title in this new weight class.” Euri Cedeño “My power comes from my hard work. I always work with my mindset on destroying my opponent. That’s where it comes from.” “Rohan {my Olympic teammate} and I never talked about fighting on the same card together. But I feel happy to be sharing this card with him. We’ve known each other since we were kids. We’ve always respected each other.” “My opponent asked for this fight. So, I’m coming in here even more motivated because I want to show him that he took a huge risk in asking to fight me.” Saturday, January 31 Top Rank Classics (5:30 p.m. ET/2:30 p.m. PT) Xander Zayas vs. Abass Baraou, 12 Rounds, Zayas' WBO and Baraou's WBA Jr. Middleweight World Titles Rohan Polanco vs. Christian Gomez, 10 Rounds, WBO Intercontinental Welterweight Title Juanmita Lopez De Jesus vs. Conner Goade, 6 rounds, Jr. Bantamweight Carlos De Leon Castro vs. Diuhl Olguin, 6 rounds, Jr. Lightweight Yadriel Caban vs. Jeremis Hernandez-Torres, 4 rounds, Jr. Bantamweight Euri Cedeno vs. Etoundi Michel William, 10 rounds, Middleweight Giovani Santillan vs. Courtney Pennington, 10 rounds, Jr. Middleweight  |
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