Xander Zayas just won a second world title in front of his Puerto Rican faithful. He’d like to do the same for a possible unification bout with Josh Kelly.
“Kelly just won tonight. If he wants to get it on by the summer, I would like to invite him to Puerto Rico or New York,” Zayas, 23-0 (13 KOs), said on Saturday evening after winning a split decision in an entertaining battle with Abass Baraou. Zayas came in as the reigning WBO titleholder while Baraou owned the WBA belt.
As Zayas referenced, Kelly, 18-1-1 (9 KOs), dethroned IBF titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev via majority decision earlier in the day in Newcastle, England.
New York City has become a second home for many Puerto Rican fighters, given the sizable population of people of Puerto Rican heritage in the New York metropolitan region, with hundreds of thousands living in The Big Apple itself.
Zayas fought at Madison Square Garden in New York City four straight times before the Baraou bout, including his unanimous decision over Jorge Garcia Perez this past July to win the vacant WBO belt.
Of course, Kelly would like to take advantage of his own popularity at home; he lives about half an hour from Newcastle Arena, where his last two main event victories took place.
Frank Smith, the CEO of Matchroom Boxing, told BoxingScene’s Tom Ivers that Kelly’s local soccer team – Sunderland A.F.C. of the English Premier League – is interested in hosting the fighter. Its stadium can host up to 49,000 people for soccer matches, and presumably more if seating is placed on the pitch.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
