NEW YORK, N.Y.—There was something different about Xander Zayas. Maybe it was the hair. Maybe this was Sampson in reverse. Zayas cut his hair, and it seems, a new, improved and stronger Xander Zayas emerged.

The 19-year-old junior middleweight was making his eight-round debut, in a hotbed of San Juan, Puerto Rico love, before a soldout 5,158 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater on Saturday night under the hot glare of the ESPN lights.

Zayas was not exactly fighting some shlub. Quincy LaVallais was a tough guy who had never been stopped before.

Zayas came pretty close.

Zayas (13-0, 9 knockouts), from San Juan, Puerto Rico, was poised, powerful and incredibly sharp in winning an eight-round unanimous decision over the very game LaVallais (12-3-1, 7 KOs) on the Edgar Berlanga-Steve Rolls undercard.

“I felt really focused and ready for this,” Zayas said. “I don’t know if had anything to do with my hair (laughs), but we had an intense eight-week training camp and I felt ready and prepared.”

From the opening bell. Zayas established his authority.

In the opening round, he cracked LaVallais with a right to the head, that caught the fighter’s attention from Metairie, Louisiana. In the second, Zayas, playing the role as stalker, landed a huge right to the side of LaVallais’ head again, and poured on the pressure, causing referee Eric Dali to take a close look.

Zayas landed 54-96 punches in the second, 47 were power shots.

A few Zayas left hooks had LaVallais backing up, and Dali looking closely again.

LaVallais had two previous losses on his ledger, but he had never been stopped before.

Zayas brutalized LaVallais in the early minutes of the sixth. He slammed several left hooks off of the very tough LaVallais, and followed with overhand rights. LaVallais may have had the impression Zayas would punch himself out. He didn’t.

LaVallais, 28, took the punishment and it showed in the scorecards.

Judges Ron McNair (80-71), Robert Perez (80-72) and Robin Taylor (80-72) all scored it a shutout for Zayas.

“I need this type of experience,” Zayas said. “Eight rounds against a tough opponent will only help me as I move forward in my career.

“The plan is to come back June 11 at The Garden on Puerto Rican Parade Weekend. That’s a special weekend for Puerto Ricans, and I am proud to represent my people.

“I want to dedicate this fight to my trainer, Javiel Centeno. He showed his love and commitment after what he went through yesterday.”

On the first TV bout, junior welterweight John Bauza (17-0, 7 KOs) won an eight-round unanimous decision over Tony Luis (29-5, 10 KOs).

On the undercard, welterweight Jahi Tucker (7-0, 6 KOs) won a six-round decision over Tracey McGruder (6-2, 4 KOs). Junior lightweight Henry Lebron (15-0, 10 KOs) stopped Josec Ruiz (23-6-3, 16 KOs) at 2:23 in the seventh round of a scheduled eight-rounder.

Probably the best fight on the undercard came in the scheduled six-rounder between lightweights Bruce Carrington (3-0, 2 KOs) and Yeuri Andujar (5-5-1, 3 KOs). The fight was stopped with 2:03 left, because Andujar had a cut opened on his right eye. Once allowed to fight again, Andujar put on a spirited display, battling back to make it a great back-and-forth encounter.

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 19: Bruce Carrington emerged victorious after a vicious fifth-round knockout over  Yeuri Andujar. (Photo by Mikey Williams/Top Rank Inc via Getty Images)

Until, finally, Carrington unfurled a perfect left hook that knocked out Andujar before he touched the canvas at :51 of the fifth round. Referee Eddie Claudio didn’t bother counting. He waved it over immediately.

After the brutal knockout to Carrington, Andujar was taken by stretcher to a local hospital as a precaution. He was awake and aware drinking a bottle of water.

Junior welterweight Armani Almestica (5-0, 5 KOs) stopped Luis Valentin Portalatin (3-4, 1 KO) at 1:57 of the third round in a scheduled four-rounder. Welterweight Kelvin Davis (4-0, 3 KOs) remained undefeated with a first-round knockout of Phillip Carmouche (2-3) at 1:17.

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be followed on twitter @JSantoliquito.

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