Teofimo Lopez and Josh Taylor may have stolen the spotlight during the pre-fight press conferences, but Zander Xayas wants to steal the show on fight night.

The unbeaten Xayas will face Ronald Cruz tonight at The Hulu Theatre inside Madison Square Garden in New York City. The eight-round bout will precede the main event bout between Taylor and Lopez.

Both fights will air live on ESPN (10 p.m. ET/ 7 p.m. PT).

At Friday’s weigh-in, Zayas weighed in at 152.8 pounds. Cruz weighed 152.4 pounds.

Zayas (15-0, 10 knockouts), who is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico and now resides in Sunrise, Florida, last fought on December 10, defeating Alexis Salazar Flores by decision over eight one-sided rounds. The win over Salazar took place upstairs in the arena at Madison Square Garden.

In his previous fight on August 13, Zayas stopped Elias Espadas in the fifth round.

The Zayas-Cruz fight was originally scheduled to take place on April 1 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, also on a Top Rank card, but the fight was postponed after Zayas was forced to withdraw from the fight after suffering an injury during training camp.

The 20-year-old will face a fighter in Cruz (18-2-1, 12 KOs), a resident of the Los Angeles suburb of North Hollywood. Cruz is winless in his last two fights, including a decision loss to Damian Sosa in his last bout on August 26.

Despite Cruz’s recent struggles, Zayas insisted on wanting to follow through and fight Cruz.

“When the fight got postponed, we contacted Top Rank and said that this is the opponent we wanted to fight,” said Zayas at Thursday’s press conference. “They allowed me to do that, and now here we are. I’m excited to showcase what we have been working on.

“(Cruz) is motivated. He’s been waiting for this opportunity his whole life. So, I expect him to come out and try to put on a show.”

Tonight’s card will take place the night before the annual Puerto Rican Day parade. Zayas has fought on a handful of occasions at Madison Square Garden, but never on a weekend where the parade travels through the streets of Manhattan. 

Zayas is very proud of his roots and wants to add to the impressive lineage of great fighters from Puerto Rico, including Carlos Ortiz, Wilfredo Gomez, Wilfredo Gomez, Felix Trinidad, Ivan Calderon, and Miguel Cotto, just to name a few. 

The unbeaten Zayas is eager to showcase his improving talent. Not only does he want to impress and make a statement at the expense of Cruz, but he hopes this will be the first of many times he will be able to fight in New York City during a Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend.

“This is the first time that I will fight during (the) Puerto Rican Day Parade weekend,” said Zayas. “I’m excited for this one. It’s awesome to see all these different cultures come together and bring an excellent show to Madison Square Garden and New York (City). 

“I’m ready to put on a show for all my Puerto Rican fans Saturday night.”

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing