Xander Zayas to Finish the Year Strong!

21-year-old Puerto Rican sensation Xander Zayas (17-0, 11KOs) will be fighting again the third time in 6 months since he started the year late with his first fight being in June. Zayas will be facing Jorge Fortea (24-3-1, 9KOs) in a highly anticipated 10 round junior middleweight bout to be the co-feature on Top Rank’s Saturday December 9th card at the Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines, Florida. The fight will broadcast live on ESPN.

Zayas proved he did not lose a step after missing half the year and then gaining a unanimous decision victory against Ronald Cruz in June. Zayas followed up the Cruz fight with a stoppage victory against Roberto Valenzuela Jr back in September. Zayas seems wise beyond his years in the ring. Zayas dominates his opponents with high IQ and an intelligent defense built into a perfectly executed offense. Zayas has definitely become a Puerto Rican fan favorite with his electrifying style and charisma. Zayas shows up and shows out! A win for Zayas, which would be his third this year and against an experinced fighter as Fortea will put his name into the hat to challenge for a title.

Zayas is looking to finish the year strong against the 13-year veteran Fortea who has a 3-fight winning streak going and has only 3 losses in his 28 career fights. Fortea has also previously held the WBC Latino 154-pound title. Fortea will have his hands full against a much younger and talented fighter such as Zayas who seems to learn and get better from every fight. Zayas never disappoints, but can Fortea show that there is levels to the boxing game and stunt the Puerto Rican prospect’s trajectory? Fortea will look to use the experienced he has gained over his 13 year career. A win against Zayas will put Fortea in a position for a future title shot. We all know in boxing there are no certainties, and anything can happen come fight night.

Also, on the card we have the main event which is also another high-stakes showdown that looks to be a crowd-pleaser as well. We have Cuban WBO featherweight champion Robeisy “El Tren” Ramirez (13-1, 8KOs) putting his belt on the line against tough and unbeaten Mexican contender Rafael “El Divino” Espinoza (21-0, 18KOs). This fight will be all out war with all the spoils going to the victor. Top Rank has been putting great fight cards together and this is only another example of this. Tune in on December 9th and don’t miss out on an action-packed night of fights!