At the Coliseo José Miguel Agrelot in San Juan, Puerto Rico, hometown favorite Xander Zayas (23-0-0, 13 KOs), holder of the WBO super welterweight title, faced Germany’s Abbass Baraou (17-2-0, 9 KOs), the WBA champion, a few hours ago in an important unification bout. The Puerto Rican won by split decision, with the judges’ scorecards reading 112-116 and twice 116-112. A verdict that poorly reflects what was seen in the ring: Zayas controlled the fight at will over twelve rounds, displaying truly surprising boxing class for such a young fighter.
At the opening bell of round one, the two squared off at center ring. Zayas immediately showed a wide variety of punches, working both the body and the head. Baraou appeared somewhat tense at the start, throwing little and focusing more on studying his opponent.
The young Puerto Rican’s offensive arsenal is remarkable: his hands are fast, his combinations varied and effective, all supported by excellent footwork. Baraou produced very little in the early stages, almost as if he were searching for a single decisive shot—something not really in his nature, given the low knockout percentage on his record (52.94%).
Zayas kept moving intelligently, circling around the German, landing punches and exiting exchanges with impressive skill, making himself difficult to pin down. He used the jab effectively, often as a simple range-finding tool to control distance at will. Baraou, on the other hand, used his jab sparingly, which ultimately made Zayas’ job of controlling the fight much easier.
At the start of the third round, the German became more aggressive, landing a nice right hand–left hook combination. Zayas quickly regrouped, however, increasing his movement and making Baraou’s attempts to trap him increasingly difficult.
Zayas possesses excellent punching ability, but it was above all his exits after punching that troubled Baraou—most notably with a beautiful uppercut that landed midway through round four, the result of textbook footwork.
Trailing on the scorecards, Baraou tried to apply more pressure, mainly looking to do damage with his right hand, which he landed on several occasions. However, he failed to build sustained attacks, allowing Zayas to recover easily from any potentially dangerous moment. The 23-year-old Puerto Rican was thus free to showcase his full repertoire, highlighted by his left hook and left uppercut. Zayas is a southpaw fighting from an orthodox stance, with his stronger arm in front to dictate and control the action.
Zayas is generally a quality puncher, but for long stretches of the fight he adopted a highly elusive style, doing so brilliantly—making Baraou miss frequently and clinching very rarely, clearly comfortable moving around the ring. His ability to change angles thanks to elite-level footwork stood out, especially when contrasted with Baraou’s relative static posture.
In round nine, aware he was behind on the cards, Baraou launched another assault and caught Zayas with a sharp right hand. Zayas responded immediately with a right hook that briefly shook Baraou, then unleashed a fast, extended combination, drawing loud cheers from the home crowd. Baraou answered again with his best weapon, the straight right. The two exchanged briefly at close range—one of the rare moments Zayas allowed Baraou that distance—before Zayas resumed movement and control.
In the championship rounds, the difference in footwork quality became even more evident, with Baraou chasing in vain while Zayas circled him, occasionally firing the straight right.
The final seconds of the fight saw both men trading at center ring, a somewhat unwise choice by a fully confident Zayas, who seemed eager to give the home crowd one last thrill.
At the end of the bout, the verdict crowned Zayas unified WBO and WBA super welterweight world champion. The split decision, in the writer’s opinion, was scandalous: Zayas dominated from start to finish, managing every phase of the fight with surprising ease and rarely, if ever, appearing troubled. It is difficult to award Baraou more than two or three rounds.
The super welterweight division is currently enjoying an incredible moment, with many high-level fighters who, on paper, could deliver sensational matchups: Zayas, Ortiz, Ennis, the resurgent Josh Kelly, Murtazaliev despite his recent loss in Newcastle, Fundora, Madrimov, Bohachuk, Thurman. The hope is to see these potential clashes materialize and determine the best in the division—and without doubt, one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.