At 16, Puerto Rican rising star Xander Zayas became Top Rank’s youngest signee. Now, at just 22, he’s ready to seize his first world title.

Zayas will take on upset-minded Mexican puncher Jorge Garcia for the vacant WBO junior middleweight world championship on Saturday, July 26, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.

In the co-feature, Brooklyn native Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington and unbeaten Namibian Mateus Heita will collide for the WBC interim featherweight world title.

And, in the eight-round televised opener, Mexican American prospect Emiliano Fernando Vargas returns against Ecuador’s Alexander Espinoza in a junior welterweight showdown.

Zayas-Garcia, Carrington-Heita, and Vargas-Espinoza will be broadcast live on ESPN, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+ at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT.

Promoted by Top Rank, in association with Zanfer Boxing and Golden Boy Promotions, tickets go on sale Friday, June 6 at 12 p.m. ET and can be purchased via Ticketmaster.com.  

“When we signed Xander at the age of 16, he was a teenager with all the potential in the world. He’s now an accomplished young contender with a tremendous opportunity to win his first world title,” said Top Rank Chairman Bob Arum. “Jorge Garcia has been impressive lately, and I expect an action-packed, dramatic main event at The Theater at Madison Square Garden.”

Zayas (21-0, 13 KOs) looks to become Puerto Rico’s next world champion almost six years after turning pro as a 17-year-old. He became a contender in August 2022 after knocking out Elias Espadas to win the NABO title. Zayas has made seven defenses of the NABO strap, including one-sided decisions over Damian Sosa and former world champion Patrick Teixeira in 2024. He kicked off his 2025 campaign in February with a savage ninth-round stoppage over German puncher Slawa Spomer. Zayas grew up idolizing Miguel Cotto, another Puerto Rican standout who turned pro under the Top Rank banner. Cotto won his first world title, the WBO junior welterweight strap, in September 2004. More than two decades later, Zayas looks to follow the lead of his boxing hero.

​​”This is a dream I’ve worked hard for my entire life. I’ve got a good opponent in Jorge Garcia, a Mexican hungry to become a world champion,” Zayas said. “But I’m ready to raise the Puerto Rican flag high in victory and become a world champion at 22 years old. See you all on July 26.”

Garcia (33-4, 26 KOs) enters the assignment against Zayas riding an eight-fight winning streak, which began with a seventh-round knockout over then-unbeaten countryman Hector Andres Reyes in June 2023. During that streak, he has played the road warrior role, knocking out Angel Cruz Johnson in the Dominican Republic and Roarke Knapp in South Africa. In April, Garcia snatched the ‘0’ of the highly touted unbeaten U.S. Olympian Charles Conwell, securing a split decision over “Bad News” in Oceanside, California. The good news from the Conwell triumph was a WBO No. 2 ranking and a shot at the title.

“A lot of people thought I wasn’t going to win my last fight, but I scored a stunning upset,” said Garcia. “Even though I was the underdog, I shocked the world. This fight won’t be any different. Becoming a world champion is my dream, and I’m ready to make it come true on July 26 with a dominant win over Xander Zayas. Mexico will have a new champion this summer.”