Undefeated Xander Zayas won his first major title last month in New York after defeating Mexico’s Jorge Garcia via unanimous decision—the WBO junior middleweight title—also becoming the youngest active boxing world champion. In the immediate aftermath, the 22-year-old called out several names for his next outing, including interim WBC junior middleweight champion Vergil Ortiz Jr.

“I hope so,” Zayas said when specifically asked about Ortiz Jr. “I say yes. … I hope that all those big fights happen. There’s no more running from me. I’m a world champion. I have what they want, so yes.” It was not like Ortiz Jr. and Zayas were friends before, so the 27-year-old didn’t sit quietly when being called out for a showdown. 

Congratulating Zayas for the win, Ortiz Jr. wrote, “Let’s keep everything [100%], you got a gift!” The 27-year-old argued that while his last two opponents were top 10 boxers in the division, “The opponent you just fought was a 33-4 and barely scratches the top 15 mark.” Ortiz Jr., who is yet to win a full title, wasn’t happy that Zayas was handed an easy opponent to win the vacant WBO strap. “If I had won my world title against your opponent, they would be tearing me to shreds rn,” Ortiz Jr. wrote. 

“We’re at different levels. My fight against Antonio Orozco (his only loss was to a world champion) back when I was 21 was harder than your last fight, since you wanna talk about what we have done at our ages,” Ortiz Jr. added. He highlighted his fight against Israil Madrimov in February this year, which he won easily via unanimous decision, claiming, “For some odd reason, my fight against Madrimov (clearly the better fight in terms of skill and popularity) wasn’t made into a world title fight for the vacant belt.”

Ortiz Jr. alleged that the vacant WBO belt was always being held for Zayas. “You can say all you want that I haven’t achieved anything, but I’ve definitely proved more than you have. I’ve beaten several fighters who’ve [become world champions]. One who I called for to fight and knew I could beat at 140 while he had a world title, but I just never got the opportunity,” he added. Notably, Zayas and Garcia were elevated to WBO’s No.1 and No.2 spots ahead of their fight. 

Many questioned this decision, as the likes of Israil Madrimov, Erickson Lubin, and Serhii Bohachuk were left under them. Regardless, upon being jolted out of his celebrations of his first major title, Zayas didn’t waste time before firing back. 

Xander Zayas asks Vergil Ortiz Jr. to keep his excuses to himself

Tensions between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and Xander Zayas had been simmering long before their recent social media feud. Though a potential fight between the two had been floated in the past, it never came to fruition. Still, the back-and-forth has reignited. Zayas clapped back at Ortiz Jr.’s tweet on X, writing, “Keep all those excuses to yourself brother, talk to me when you become a world champion.”

Ortiz didn’t back down, replying, “Ain’t no excuses, all facts my guy.” He followed up with another jab: “Talk to me when you fight a top 10 opponent.” Whether this heated exchange will eventually lead to a fight remains to be seen. But judging by their words, neither Ortiz Jr. nor Zayas seems likely to shy away from proving who the better man really is.

Xander Zayas may not have expected Vergil Ortiz Jr. to call him out so publicly for what Ortiz Jr. clearly sees as favoritism. But was there any favoritism? WBO’s decision to rank Garcia and Zayas seems questionable, but could this have been planned?