‘Boxing is Stale’ – Oscar De La Hoya Slams Xander Zayas

Since Turki Alalshikh announced himself to the boxing world through the Tyson Fury vs Francis Ngannou fight, we have been treated to many memorable matchups, such as two titanic clashes between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol and the upcoming superfight between Canelo Alvarez and Terence Crawford. Despite these fights, there is still criticism from some quarters regarding fights that haven’t happened, and Golden Boy Promotions CEO Oscar De La Hoya has taken to his Instagram to criticise Xander Zayas (22-0, 13 KOs) over his supposed reluctance to face Vergil Ortiz Jr (23-0, 21 KOs).

De La Hoya Targets Xander Zayas in Frustrated Rant

Zayas vs Ortiz Jr – De La Hoya Wants the Fight

Zayas, who recently became the WBO super welterweight world champion after defeating Jorge Garcia Perez by unanimous decision, recently posted on X a supposed offer from Eric Gomez of Golden Boy for Zayas to face Ortiz. The Puerto Rican fighter seemed to welcome the fight, but said no to this particular offer.

Ortiz fired back on social media and said: “What is exactly is so unfavorable about the offer?  It’s 50/50. You have time to recover and train for December. And it would be in neutral territory. Don’t run away now, you’ve had 3 days to agree and we haven’t heard a thing from your side!”

Addressing the state of boxing and the Xander Zayas vs Vergil Ortiz Jr fight: “It’s so frustrating. Boxing right now is just stale, especially here in America. Fighters don’t want to fight each other.

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“Perfect example, Xander Zayas. We have a perfect fight for you on a silver platter, pay-per-view, Let’s do it from Las Vegas MGM, and you keep saying you wanna go to Puerto Rico? How? Your promoter has no TV whatsoever. Where are you gonna fight, f***ing Only Fans? Dude, we have DAZN. We have the pay-per-view. We have the date, you and Vergil (Ortiz) Mexico-Puerto Rico, it’s huge.”

“What are you waiting for? Let’s do this. I mean, this era right here, I cannot wait for this era to finish. Only the fighters that don’t wanna fight and who are literally p***ies, man. They wanna do it for extra millions and this and that. No, let’s be real here. Pay-per-view, DAZN, Vergil Ortiz, Xander Zayas. Let’s do it Las Vegas. What are you waiting for?”

Xander Zayas vs Vergil Ortiz Jr

Zayas is the champion, but Ortiz is the bigger draw, so a 50/50 split is more than fair on first glance. The Puerto Rican possesses plenty of speed and maintains the distance in his fights effectively. His defence is solid, making him a difficult opponent to beat.

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Ortiz is a front-foot pressure fighter who looks to keep his guard high and walk down his opponents. His head movement is impressive, helping him to create angles to counterpunch. Should the fight be made, it should provide a distinct clash of styles. Vergil Ortiz Jr has never been in a dull fight, and Zayas will need to be at his most disciplined to beat Ortiz.