Wise beyond his years, Xander Zayas doesn't feel the pressure of expectation

Elliot Worsell of Boxing News caught up with Zayas shortly before his victory over Patrick Teixeira on June 8 in New York.

LIKE most children, all decisions are made and taken Xander Zayas his early years were dominated by necessity rather than the luxury of choice. He moved to America from Puerto Rico at age 11, for example, because that's where his mother and stepfather wanted to put down their roots.

Then, when he was there, he would learn to speak English within six months because without this skill he would feel more at home and stranger than before. Before that, when he was only six years old, he was abandoned in a boxing gym and after that he learned boxing not because he wanted to but because his mother, worried about the abuse he had to endure, forced him to box. method as a way to teach him self-defense.

That was actually the first language besides his mother tongue that Zayas learned as a child: the language of self-defense; fighting language; language to adapt to one's environment.

“He just threw me in there to learn at first, and, to be honest, I didn't want to do it,” said Zayas, now 21. Debate News. “I didn't want to be beaten. I was already beaten on the street, so why do I want to be beaten for fun?

“But that's how it started and I remember that there was this little girl who was beating me badly, man.” In sparring he used to handle me. Until I got angry with myself and said, 'Man, come on! You have to do something about this!' So I started going back and I started going back and I found that I liked it.”

Again, Zayas' knowledge of boxing was not accidental or natural, but rather something forced upon him by the situation. This time, he was forced to learn and improve because of the shame of being exposed to a girl whenever his mother took him to the gym in hopes of reducing the humiliation he received outside the gym.

As is often the case, one thing led to another and by the time Zayas was 11 years old and living in Sunrise, Florida, she could at least take care of herself as well as she could before getting a pet. boxing gym. That, if nothing else, gave him the confidence he would have been sorely lacking when taking such a big step at such a young, impressionable age.

“At first it was very difficult,” he said, “I'm from (San Juan) Puerto Rico and I can't speak the language; not having friends; you have to start a new school and find a new boxing gym. It was really hard at first, but when you're 11 you're like a sponge. You start picking things up quickly. Within six or eight months, I was speaking the language and had a few friends. So it was very easy.

“I had no other place where Spanish was spoken except at home. Wherever you went, whether it was a supermarket or a restaurant, you had to speak English. There is no other way around you. Where I live in the States, there is not a large Latino community, and if there is, they still speak to you in English because they want to force you to be better.”

In many ways that feeling can explain a large part of Zayas' early life and journey so far. After all, with each challenge he faced he was forced to come up with a solution and, in pursuing this solution, he not only added strings to his bow with practicality but also accumulated wisdom that defied his years.

“Being around so many stars from a young age really helped,” he said when he was praised for sounding mature. “Since I was 12 years old, I have been picking up martial artists and training alongside them. I was able to see it all. Also, my family raised me this way; to be put down and leveled. I have been around people older than me all my life and that has taught me how to take care of myself and run a business. Do your job and get out, that's all. There is nothing else you can do.”

He certainly gives an impression of a typical event; or a wunderkind. Not only is Zayas blessed with incredible maturity and incredible poise, he's a student, of boxing and life, and he's studied others with such a keen eye that it's no wonder he's picked up so many tricks along the way, though. it can be seen in his speech or in the ring.

“When I turned 12 or 13 that's when I started watching boxing,” he said. “Before, I used to watch big fights but it was usually late and I went to sleep. But from the age of about 13 onwards is when I started watching boxing a lot. I was going to watch Miguel Cotto, my old favorite star, and Andre Ward and Manny Pacquiao. Who are the others? The Klitschko brothers [Vitali and Wladimir]. Vasily Lomachenko. I remember when he came out of the Olympics. It's surprising.

LAS VEGAS – JULY 26: Miguel Cotto scores eight points after being knocked down by Antonio Margarito in their WBA welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 26, 2008 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Margarito won by TKO in the 11th round. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

“As I was going to high school, I just knew, at the age of 13 or 14, that this is what I wanted to do. One of my teachers came in during the first year – my English teacher – she said we should write down our biggest goal in life and say where we all saw ourselves in five years. I wrote that I was going to be a professional boxer and then we had to throw in the towel – it was like a game – someone picked it up and handed me back the paper. Less than five years later I was a fighting champion.”

Of course, the main goal of any novice boxer is to appear, and hopefully medal, in the Olympic Games, and in this Zayas was no different than any other. He also wanted to call himself an Olympian and represent his country, only the new age requirement of 19 would unfortunately prevent Zayas from achieving this at the 2020 Summer Games.

“It was a big disappointment for me,” he said. “I think it's a shame for any athlete if you dream of going to the Olympics to represent your country and then you can't do it because of some law or technology.

“For me it wasn't that difficult because it was something to divide the years and I knew I didn't want to wait until 2024. I wouldn't be here talking to you right now if I had. So it wasn't that difficult for me when it gave me a chance to become a champion. I knew I didn't want to wait until 2024, so I took this opportunity. Then you think about all the athletes who were preparing for the 2020 Games and were attacked by the Covid epidemic. They had to start over. I bet it was more difficult for them than for me.”

As for Zayas, he turned the disappointment of missing the Olympics into a form of motivation; motivation to try again and do what he always wanted to do: go pro. He did this in 2019, becoming, at the age of 16, the youngest boxer to sign a pro contract with Top Rank in the 53 years since its inception. He only did that, however, after first making sure it was okay with his mother.

“We sat down as a family and discussed it and my mother didn't want me to do it from the beginning,” he said. “He was like, 'You haven't finished school. You are not old yet but you are going to fight with grown men.' Then I went back to him and said, 'Look, this is what I want to do. This is my life. This is what I want to dedicate myself to.' He told me, 'Okay, as long as you finish high school, you can do it.' I homeschooled the same year, the same year, the same year I turned pro, and finished high school online while focusing on boxing.”

The good thing about being in high school, aside from all the learning, is that Zayas can stay grounded, human, and connected, for now, at least, to kids his own age. It meant that he would again feel proud to see his peers happy when he learned that he will take his boxing journey to the next level when he turns 17.

“I remember being on a real trip when they announced it [Zayas turning pro],” he said. “One of my guys said, 'Wow, you really just signed with Top Rank?' But I couldn't say anything. I didn't know it was the day they were going to announce it. So, I said, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' and he pointed to me and said, 'Look!' He shows me the story and all of a sudden I'm like, 'Oh yeah, I've signed with Top Rank!' It was amazing. Everyone was really happy for me. I feel like all my friends in high school were good people, so they were all genuinely happy for me.”

Zayas is now 18-0 with 12 goals. He will headline his first major fight on June 8 at Madison Square Garden, New York, where he will face former WBO super-welterweight champion Patrick Teixeira over 10 rounds (Zayas won on points, see below).

(Mikey Williams/Top Position)

That, without a doubt, represents the most difficult test of Zayas' career to date, however, when considering the hype that followed him every step of the way, and when it was described as everything from “the light of hope of Puerto Rico” to “” the next Miguel Cotto”, maybe a war like this is not too early.

Because while Xander Zayas may be young, and still in the learning stages of his life and career, there are some men – boxers – who hit puberty, so to speak, much earlier than others. For Zayas, his voice became deeper faster than his peers. There was hair on his chest before he took off his vest.

“Pressure will always follow you no matter what you do in life,” said Zayas. “As a young boxer, I feel like I will always be under pressure. I have the whole country behind me so there will always be pressure. I just have to stay focused, listen to my team and my family, and enjoy what I'm doing; every interview, every workout, every fight.

“I don't want to to hear stress, honesty. I feel like I'm going in the right direction and in the right direction. The whole team knows the goal and knows what we want. Little by little we are getting there. I don't think about 'Next this' or 'Next that'. I just have to be me. I want to be happy with what I do, be happy with what I do, and make my family and my team proud. Hopefully, I can make everyone who watches me and loves me as a martial artist proud.”