Xander Zayas and Patrick Teixeira will have to wait a few months longer for their crossroads bout.
BoxingScene.com has learned that the junior middleweight fight between the unbeaten rising prospect and former titlist has been pushed back to June. They were previously due to appear as the co-feature of the February 16 Top Rank on ESPN card at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York City.
No official reason was given for the delay. Both camps refused comment to Boxing Scene seeking clarification on the development which was first reported by ESPN.com’s Mike Coppinger.
The rest of the show will remain intact. The event will feature the Top Rank debut of O’Shaquie Foster (21-2, 12KOs), who will defend his WBC junior lightweight title versus Abraham Nova (23-1, 16KOs). Boxing Scene has learned that the Andres Cortes-Bryan Chevalier junior lightweight clash will move into the co-feature slot.
Zayas planned to return to his normal rate of activity after he was slowed by injuries last year. He ended 2023 on a high note with a fifth-round knockout of Spain’s Jorge Fortea. Their December 9 clash took place at Charles F. Dodge City Center in Pembroke Pines, mere minutes from his adopted hometown of Sunrise, Florida.
The immediate demand afterward was a return to his home away from home in New York City.
“February 16 back at home. MSG… Patrick Teixeira, you’re next,” Zayas declared after the fight.
Only part of that plan now remains intact.
Brazil’s Teixeira (33-4, 24KOs) has won his last two starts after a rough three-year stretch that saw inactivity due to visa delays, and three straight defeats. After his last win, he called for a fight versus Zayas among others.
“I want a fight outside Brazil; I have a lot of opponents I would like to face 154,” Teixeira previously told Boxing Scene after his August 27 second-round knockout win over Carlos Rivero in Santo Amaro, Brazil. “The one I most want to face would be Xander Zayas.”
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. X (formerly Twitter): @JakeNDaBox