Podcast: Xander Zayas interview; Ryan Garcia returns with KO win

Plus: Gill rejuvenates career by knocking out Conlan, who might be done; news of the week; trio of huge anniversaries

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There were two major fights on Saturday, both on DAZN, and I recapped both and gave my thoughts on Ryan Garcia’s knockout of Oscar Duarte on the Golden Boy card in Houston and Jordan Gill’s upset knockout of Michael Conlan on the Matchroom Boxing card in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The show is a little late this week because our somewhat competent host TJ had a technology meltdown and was unable to be part of this show, so ultimately I muddled through and handled it on my own. Besides the recaps there is also my interview with junior middleweight up-and-comer Xander Zayas, who fights in the co-feature of Top Rank’s ESPN card on Dec. 9; news of the week; and a memories on a trio of big fight anniversaries.

Here’s what what’s I covered in this episode (in order):

• Recap and thoughts on Garcia’s return from his only loss to Gervonta Davis in April to knock out Duarte in the eighth round of a somewhat dominant performance. How did he look and where might this win lead? We also touched on the superb performance of lightweight up-and-comer Floyd Schofield, who scored four knockdowns en route knocking out Ricardo Lopez in the first round.

• Recap and thoughts on Gill’s seventh-round knockout of Conlan in Conlan’s hometown in a must-sin for each man since they were both coming off bad KO losses. Where does this leave both men?

• My interview with Zayas, the rising Puerto Rican star, who fights Jorge Fortea on Saturday. We covered a variety of topics, including making his way up the rankings and winning regional titles but aspiring for world titles; the Puerto Rican greats he looks up to; improvements he’s made during his four-year career; being a pro since age 17 and whether he feels he missed out on youthful fun; thoughts on Fortea; his opinion on whether he’s still a prospect or now a contender; thoughts on the 154-pound division and possible future opponents; fighting minutes from home for the first time as a pro; and more.

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• Fights set for Jaime Munguia and Sergiy Derevyanchenko, who put on a leading fight of the year candidate in June. Both have opponents and dates set in January.

• The WBA’s disappointing announcement that it is joining the WBC in the creation of a 224-pound division between cruiserweight and heavyweight.

• The announcement by WBC junior lightweight titlist Emanuel Navarrete that he had left hand surgery on Friday.

• Memories on the 41st anniversary of a card that featured two historic and outstanding fights, Thomas Hearns’ 15-round decision over fellow Hall of Famer Wilfred Benitez to win the WBC junior middleweight title and Wilfredo Gomez’s 14th-round knockout of fellow HOFer Lupe Pintor to retain the WBC junior featherweight title in an all-time great Mexico vs. Puerto Rico slugfest.

• Ringside memories on the 12th anniversary of when Miguel Cotto stopped Antonio Margarito seconds into the 10th round of their bad-blood filled rematch to retain the WBA junior middleweight title and exact glorious revenge.

• Ringside memories on the 15th anniversary of when Manny Pacquiao destroyed Oscar De La Hoya in eight one-sided rounds for the upset win in a huge fight that sent the Golden Boy into retirement and launched Pacquiao into a series of mega fights.

Please give it a listen! Also: rate, review, subscribe and enjoy!

We will be bringing you the weekend recap each Monday. Let me know what you think of the podcast by leaving your comments.

Zayas photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank

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