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Puerto Rico’s Xander Zayas has become boxing’s youngest active world champion at the age of 22 by gaining a unanimous points victory over Mexico’s Jorge Garcia Perez to win the vacant WBO light-middleweight title.<\/b><\/p>\n
At New York’s Madison Square Garden on Saturday, Zayas secured a dominant points victory by margins of 116-112, 118-110 and 119-109.<\/p>\n
“This is a dream come true,” said Zayas, who turned professional at 17. “This is beautiful. To see my Puerto Rican fans here, this is amazing. I could never dream of anything better than this.”<\/p>\n
Unbeaten Zayas, who has won all 22 of his professional fights, took control of the contest with quick jabs to the body and powerful rights.<\/p>\n
Garcia, suffering only his fifth loss in his 38th bout, managed to go toe-to-toe with Zayas in a thrilling sixth round, but could not maintain that pressure as Zayas was able to show his class and dominate the later rounds.<\/p>\n
“I had to box my way to victory,” added Zayas. “I knew if I stood in front of him I’d be fighting his fight. So, I did everything behind the jab. The jab was the key to victory, and we showed that.”<\/p>\n
US-born Puerto Rican Wilfred Benitez holds the record for being the youngest-ever world champion as he was 17 years and 176 days when he won the WBA light-welterweight belt in March 1976.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n