Xander Zayas and Patrick Teixeira both successfully weighed in on Friday for their ten-round junior middleweight fight this Saturday night, June 8th. Zayas (18-0, 12 KOs) battles Teixeira (34-4, 25 KOs) in a showcase match at Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum hopes Zayas, 21, looks impressive because he hopes to turn him into a star in the New York area. This fight on Saturday will be a good test to see whether Zayas is ready to be moved up against better opposition.
The start time for the main card is at 11:00 p.m. ET/8:00 p.m. PT. live on ESPN+.
Featherweight Bruce Carrington faces Brayan De Gracia in the ten-round chief support fight. Carrington (11-0, 7 KOs) is another fighter that Arum believes can go far in the sport, and he’s putting him in with the big puncher De Gracia to see how he performs against an opponent with power.
The main card on ESPN at 11:00 p.m. ET/ 8:00 PT
– Xander Zayas 153.4 vs. Patrick Teixeira 153.4
– Bruce Carrington 125.4 vs. Brayan De Gracia 125
Preliminary card on ESPN+ at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT
– Tiger Johnson 141.2 vs. Tarik Zaina 142.6
– Andy Dominguez 111.8 vs. Cristopher Rios 111.8
– Jahi Tucker 160.2 vs. Quincy LaVallais 161.4
– Ofacio Falcon 129.8 vs. Antonio Dunton El Jr. 130.4
– Ali Feliz 220 vs. Lemir Isom-Riley 253.6
– Nisa Rodriguez 160.6 vs. Jordanne Garcia 165.2
“Xander, everybody says, is the future of boxing in Puerto Rico. This is a showcase fight against an experienced, tough opponent [Teixeira]. If he is successful here, he’s got a great future in boxing, but an even bigger future here in New York at Madison Square Garden,” said Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to the Tell Us About That Boxing YouTube channel.
“So this is a building for us and for him. It enables us to keep the flame going for the Puerto Rican Day parade, which is such a big, big festival in New York. We’re always interested in Puerto Rican fighters, and we groom our Puerto Rican fighters for other times, of course, but particularly on the eve of the Puerto Rican Day parade.
“I love Shu Shu [Bruce Carrington]. He’s a very charismatic kid. He’s fan-friendly, no matter what group your from, and he’s going to go a long way in this sport because people love him and people follow him, and you’ll see how many people on Saturday night that come from Brownsville, Brooklyn, where he lives to support him,” said Arum.
