Puerto Rico has a rich boxing tradition, and BoxingScene is taking a look at the current titleholders, contenders, up-and-comers, and veterans from the island.
Puerto Rico will also set the stage for the first fight week of 2026, as Amanda Serrano will defend her unified featherweight titles against Reina Tellez at the Coliseo Roberto Clemente in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Serrano, 47-4-1 (31 KOs), is a 37-year-old Puerto Rican fighter who spent the early part of her career in New York City. Her last two fights have been against Katie Taylor. The last time she fought an opponent other than Taylor was in July 2024, when she knocked out Stevie Morgan.
Tellez, 13-0-1 (5 KOs) took the bout on short notice, filling in for Erika Cruz. Tellez, a 22-year-old from San Antonio, Texas, is a well-accomplished amateur who will be taking a major step-up in competition to challenge the WBA and WBO featherweight titleholder Serrano. Tellez's last win was in September against Mayela Perez.
Let’s look at the notable Puerto Rico-born fighters who are actively competing in 2026.
Notable exceptions are strawweight titleholder Oscar Collazo, who was born in New Jersey, but lives in Puerto Rico. Edgar Berlanga was born in New York City, but is a Puerto Rican fighter, while Najee Lopez, also of Puerto Rican descent, was born in Atlanta.
Titleholders
Amanda Serrano, 47-4-1 (31 KOs) – Serrano is a first ballot Hall of Famer who has held titles in seven different weight classes. Serrano might have gone 0-3 against Katie Taylor, but the impact of the three fights has been monumental for women’s boxing. Now, she looks to defend her unified featherweight titles against Tellez on Saturday night.
Xander Zayas, 22-0 (13 KOs) – Zayas is the future of Puerto Rican boxing. The youngest fighter to sign with Top Rank, beating the previous youngest, Gabriel Flores Jnr by a month or two, won the WBO junior middleweight title last year. Now, Zayas will make his first defense in a unification bout against WBA titleholder Abass Baraou. Zayas is someone who fans have witnessed throughout his career. He is now approaching his prime where he will take his impactful fights, cementing his legacy.
Subriel Matias, 23-2 (22 KOs) – The two-time junior welterweight titleholder Matias has been something special. A fighter who weaponizes pace as good as anyone in the sport today. Matias will return to the ring on January 10 against Dalton Smith in the first defense of the WBC junior welterweight title that he won by defeating Alberto Puello in July. Matias is one of the best modern pressure fighters.
Rene Santiago, 15-4 (9 KOs) – Santiago silently became the WBO junior flyweight titleholder in December, upsetting unbeaten Kyosuke Takami. Before that, Santiago defeated Shokichi Iwata in Japan.
Contenders
Yankiel Rivera, 7-0-1 (3 KOs) - The 2020 flyweight Olympian Rivera shows a lot of promise, but also showed faults in his last fight – a draw against Angelino Cordova. Rivera should be in the title mix, but might need to show more poise instead of trying to land big shots that lead into brawling.
Henry Lebron, 20-0 (10 KOs) – A fantastic southpaw boxer who returns on the Serrano-Tellez card, but didn’t fight in 2025. Lebron seemingly is on the verge of a title shot, but has occupied a high-level contender spot since 2022 after defeating Andy Vences. Lebron’s last victory was against Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz.
Jaycob Gomez, 14-0 (10 KOs) – Gomez is a junior lightweight who is on the cusp of facing the next tier of competition. He fought three times in 2025, all in Puerto Rico, and holds an impressive stoppage win over Jerry Perez as well as a hard-fought majority decision win over Jose Arellano. At 24 years old, Gomez is entering his prime.
Jan Paul Rivera, 13-0 (7 KOs) – Rivera is a promising featherweight who stopped Daniel Bailey in a main event 10-round fight in August.
Nicklaus Flaz, 15-3 (10 KOs) – Flaz went on a heck of a run, stopping Alan Sanchez, Alfredo Escarcega, and Luke Santamaria. On top of that, he defeated a top prospect, Jahi Tucker, via a majority decision. That run came to a stop in November when Delante “Tiger” Johnson knocked him out. The question will be, how does Flaz respond afterwards? He had looked like a future titleholder on his run up to the Johnson fight.
Stephanie Pineiro, 10-0 (3 KOs) – The women’s welterweight division might not be the most notable division, but Pineiro is slowly creeping toward a meaningful fight. The 35-year-old fighter Pineiro fought two times in 2025, with both bouts being 10-round fights.
Ashleyann Lozada, 3-0 (1 KO) – The first woman to represent Puerto Rico in the Olympics for boxing, Lozada could fight for a title by the end of this year. Lozada is a 34-year-old who competes in the junior featherweight division.
Kiria Tapia, 8-0 (1 KO) – Tapia, a 36-year-old who fights in the junior lightweight division, and had three fights this year. Given her record, professional experience, and age, one might think next year might be the time for her to get a fight against a notable name in her division.
Up-and-comers
Juanmita Lopez, 4-0 (2 KOs) – The son of Lopez of Juan Manuel Lopez, he competed in the 2024 Olympics for Puerto Rico. He turned pro in February and won four fights. It is notable that in his second fight against Malik Quinonez-Torres that Lopez hit the canvas but won a split decision.
Christian Barreto, 14-0 (9 KOs) – A heavy-handed fighter who doesn’t load up his punches, Barreto lets them fly. Barreto is an interesting lightweight to keep tabs on as he has a fan-friendly style and has taken some hard fights early on.
William Colon, 8-0 (5 KOs) – A junior lightweight has mostly fought in Puerto Rico, and faced solid developmental competition. It will be interesting to see how he makes the leap from a prospect to a contender.
William Ortiz, 9-0 (5 KOs) – The 6ft welterweight Ortiz holds two wins over unbeaten fighters, and is in a division that constantly finds big-name fighters competing. At 22 years old, Ortiz is a promising up-and-comer.
Olajuwon Acosta, 15-0 (10 KOs) – A junior bantamweight with a double-digit unbeaten record. He has yet to face truly elite competition, but is nearing the point of landing a meaningful fight.
Former titleholders who are hanging around and tough veterans
Alberto Machado, 24-4 (20 KOs) – Machado is a former WBA junior lightweight titleholder. After being stopped by Andrew Cancio in 2019, he has struggled at the world-class level, but he is still a notable former titleholder. He defeated Lesther Lara in April as Machado, now competing at junior welterweight, is still going.
Jose Pedraza, 29-7-1 (14 KOs) – Pedraza has been stopped in his last two fights and is 0-4-1 in his last five, but that still doesn’t discount that he is a two-division titleholder and a former Olympian. Pedraza was knocked out in January by Ernesto “Tito” Mercado, which more than likely will be his swan song as a pro.
Angel Acosta, 25-5 (23 KOs) – A former junior flyweight titleholder, Acosta is still competing at the flyweight division, and his most recent losses are to top fighters such as current titleholders Junto Nakatani and Ricardo Sandoval, as well as Angelino Cordova.
Potential Factors
Victor Padilla, 10-0 (9 KOs) – Padilla is an undefeated lightweight who holds a win over unbeaten Thomas Velasquez but hasn’t fought since 2022. He is worth mentioning since he showed promise, but who knows if he will ever enter the ring again.
Nestor Bravo, 23-1 (16 KOs) – Bravo suffered an upset loss to Xolisani Ndongeni in March. Now, Bravo returns in a tough bout on January 10 against Pedro Campa.
Jose Roman, 14-2 (6 KOs) – Roman holds a win over Jalil Hackett and lost a close fight to Tahmir Smalls. Roman is a tough welterweight who can box off the backfoot very well.
Derrieck Cuevas, 27-2-1 (19 KOs) – A former title contender who was stopped in March by Brian Norman Jnr. Cuevas will be, at the very least, a notable name for an up-and-comer to face on the way to a title run.
