MIAMI: Xander Zayas, his manager, and his team at Top Rank have all responded positively to Callum Walsh and his promoter Tom Loeffler's challenge to anoint a new combat king for New York City.
Considering Zayas is from Puerto Rico, and Walsh flies the flag for Ireland, a prospective fight would bring together two of boxing's most significant fanbases in front of a probable sellout and raucous crowd at Madison Square Garden.
"That's definitely something that can happen in the future," Zayas told ProBox TV.
His manager Peter Kahn, a Florida boxing mainstay for decades, also spoke positively about the match up. "How great would it be, one day, if the two of them keep their trajectory and meet at MSG."
Kahn added: "I have seen Callum's fights, and he's such a good, young fighter who is very much on the same path as Xander."
Team Walsh called out Zayas in front of ProBox TV
Zayas and Walsh became linked in recent months when Loeffler, in a ProBox TV exclusive, told us that one big fight he's got his eye on for his fighter is Top Rank's 21-year-old.
"A great fight looking down the road at Madison Square Garden is [Walsh against] Zayas," Loeffler told us at the time.
Before a workout at the Wildcard Boxing Club in Hollywood, California, Walsh raised an eyebrow, and appeared intrigued straight away. He looked at Loeffler, and asked his promoter if he and Zayas are in the same weight class, asked about his age, and then looked at us and nodded. Walsh is always down to scrap.
On Thursday in Miami, with Top Rank in town for a main event between Robeisy Ramirez and Rafael Espinoza, we talked to Zayas, and his manager Kahn, about this call-out — and if it's one they accept, and think marinates into a Groves-DeGale, Joshua-Whyte, or perhaps, even a Tank-Garcia type of showdown between two young and hungry fighters who both aspire to be world champions.
"I feel like it will be a big fight — kind of like Katie Taylor vs. Amanda Serrano was in New York," Zayas said.
Kahn told us: "I saw Callum's fight at Madison Square Garden recently, and he's very competitive. He's doing great. I would say there's parallel paths that they’re on right now and I do remember Tom saying that one day, it would be great if they could meet at the Garden. And, who knows? It could be one of those mega fights in the future.
"The two of them right now are still in a phase where they're developing and really trying to cement themselves as contenders," said Kahn. "If one of them gets a world title … but, maybe down the road [a title] isn’t even necessary."
The build-up could be box office
The promotion for a Zayas vs. Walsh scrap in New York could get lively because of executives looking out for the fighters including Top Rank founder Bob Arum, and UFC boss Dana White, who has an interest in Walsh and, through Howley Head whiskey, has an ambassadorial deal with the fighter.
There is, of course, no love lost between Arum, who in 2009 once mocked MMA as a sport for "a bunch of skinhead white guys."
White, meanwhile, recently blasted Arum for being "a piece of shit."
Kahn, though, is unfazed by any past disagreements between two of the most powerful figures in all combat sports, as he said: "Money has a way of making people like each other."
He added: "Dana White was able to do it with PBC when it came to Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor, and that's still one of the biggest pay-per views of all time.
"Dana is a very smart man, and he's extremely successful," said Kahn. "So I'm sure if there is a way to do those things, those things could happen under the right circumstances."
Zayas said: "It would be a really big night of boxing," at Madison Square Garden "in the near future.
"So I feel like, yes, it's something that can definitely happen."
