Fight fans who were eagerly awaiting the return of junior middleweight contender Xander Zayas (18-0, 12 KOs) at the Hulu Theater inside the Madison Square Garden on February 16 will have to wait a little longer. ESPN’s Mike Coppinger tweeted earlier tonight that the fight has been moved to June. Coppinger gave no specific reason, and ProBox could not connect with Team Zayas to clarify the situation as they were unavailable.
The Xander Zayas-Patrick Teixeira junior middleweight bout has been postponed and is now expected to take place in June, sources told ESPN. Zayas’ first bout against a former champion. Andres Cortes-Bryan Chevalier is the new ESPN co-feature to O’Shaquie Foster-Abraham Nova on…
— Mike Coppinger (@MikeCoppinger) January 6, 2024
Zayas was always going to be fighting in June regardless of the original fight date of February 16, as Top Rank is building him up to be the next Puerto Rican star. If Top Rank stays consistent, which everyone expects they will, Zayas vs. Patrick Teixeira (33-4, 24 KOs) will take place on June 8 in NYC. This will likely be an opportunity for Zayas to headline at the Hulu Theater inside MSG for his biggest fight to date. A win in June will put Zayas on track to headline in the big room at a future date.
Teixeira will also benefit from the moved date, as he was last in the ring on August 27, only a few months ago. That night, Teixeira scored a second-round knockout over Carlos Rivero, which set him up as a possible contender for Zayas. Once Zayas scored the fifth-round knockout against Jorge Fortea in December, it was immediately announced that he would face Teixeira in February. With the fight off the card, Boxing Scene has reported that Andres Cortes vs. Bryan Chevalier has moved into the co-main slot.
