Xander Zayas is not taking any time off on his path to becoming a legit contender at 154 pounds.

Zayas will return to action on February 16, squaring off against former WBO world titleholder Patrick Teixeira, it was announced Saturday night on the Top Rank on ESPN telecast. The 10-round bout will precede the main event clash between WBC world junior lightweight titleholder O’Shaquie Foster and Abraham Nova.

Both fights will take place at the Hulu Theatre inside Madison Square Garden in New York City and will air live on ESPN (9 p.m. ET/ 6 p.m. PT).

Zayas (18-0, 12 knockouts), who is originally from San Juan, Puerto Rico and now resides in Sunrise, Florida, fought Saturday on the Top Rank on ESPN telecast, knocking out Spain’s Jorge Fortea in the fifth round.

The win over Fortea preceded the main event bout in which Robeisy Ramirez lost his WBO world featherweight title at the hands of Rafael Espinoza.

In his previous fight on September 15, Zayas had stopped Roberto Valenzuela, Jr. in the fifth round. Zayas has stopped five of his last eight opponents.

The 21-year-old made headlines in 2019 when he became the youngest fighter (age 16) to sign a promotional deal with Top Rank.

Zayas is trained by Javiel Centeno and managed by Peter Kahn.

Teixeira (33-4, 24 KOs), who resides in Sombrio, Brazil, won the WBO world junior middleweight title in November 2019, overcoming a bad cut to defeat Carlos Adames to win by unanimous decision. He then lost the belt in his next fight in February 2021, when he dropped a decision to Brian Castaño.

The 33-year-old would not fight again for another 14 months, losing by disqualification against gatekeeper Paul Valenzuela for what was ruled as an intentional rabbit punch that rendered Valenzuela unable to continue.

In his last fight on August 27, Teixeira knocked out Carlos Rivero in the second round in a middleweight bout.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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