Xander Zayas (Puerto Rico) vs Slawa Spomer (Germany) | Boxing Fight

Gentlemen, you both know the rules. Obey my commands and protect yourself at all times. Touch gloves now. Come on, fight and get the belt. Slava Spomer, who lives in Germany, is trained by Roy Jones, Jr. It is their first fight together. They've been together in recent weeks. Roy says, I don't waste my time with just anybody. I put him through tough sparring. He can handle anything. We had a great visit with one of the all-time greats, a guy, obviously, we've known for many, many years. And it's just so interesting to think that Slava landed in his lap in a situation like this. Yeah, certain situations sometimes happen. Slava, it's always been his dream. He told us that he was a huge fan of Roy Jones, and he says, now he's my trainer. However, what Roy said he liked about him was his toughness, his grit. That's what he liked about him, his determination. Tess, you can't teach that. Right down, Spomer getting off to a quick start. You see how composed Xander Zayas is. He's comfortable inside the trenches. He's okay with fighting fire with fire. He's okay with standing his ground. So some pearly blood, and you can see the blood coming right from the nose of Slava. Yeah, nice head movement right there, changing slots, changing levels as well. Not staying the same. Nice hook on the inside by him as well. Spomer right now, he's just having problems with just the activity of Xander. Nice uppercut on the inside. You see a fighter start to land punches. It's part of the game plan, his punches that he's been working on. That uppercut as Spomer tends to lean over that front knee is what... The left hook went across the belt line, and he gets the warning from Charlie Fitch, the referee. All control, good jab and counterpunching. Oh, nice bump right there from Xander. Something he added to his arsenal. There's a right hand from Xander. He tried to dig underneath of that left uppercut. This is a fine-looking first round. Xander getting off to a quick start. He is. But that's what I like about Xander. That's what makes him different. You know, in this division, it's high work rate. High-energy type of fighter, and he's defensively sound at the same time now. From a lower position right there, nice body shot on the inside. Head down and just looped it right over the top. Signature shot right there from Xander's eyes. If you don't know why, you want to wonder why that shot is so perfectly thrown by him is he's left-handed. He's fighting orthodox, but he's left-handed, naturally left-handed. When you get that, when somebody's naturally left-handed, but they fight in that orthodox stand, man, that left hook, that jab, it becomes a real weapon. He landed seven power punches in that first round. That left hand over the top, the best of them. But Javier Centeno, his trainer, who he's been with throughout his career, said, do not abandon the jab. By the way, he outlanded him 20-6 in that first round. So that means that Xander Zayas, who's never been outlanded by an opponent in terms of total punches, now through 92 professional rounds, an opponent has never outlanded Xander Zayas. You know, when you have a high work rate like that, it puts fighters on the defensive. There's the four-division world champion, the fighter of the decade in the 90s, Roy Jones Jr., the trainer of Slava Spomer. Speed and accuracy of Xander Zayas. Oh, nice hook on the inside. That's a good combination from Spomer. Now we talking. Hands high, stay ready. Spomer's a little bit unconventional, you know, in his approach, and he throws shots from odd angles like that. Stay sharp. Hold them together. Yep, good face. Good face. Keep the face up. Now, just a little access to let you hear from the legend Roy Jones Jr. as he's the trainer for the first fight together with Slava Spomer. Yeah, it's obvious that Spomer has to close the distance. As long as he's standing mid-range to outside, and even right there, that shows you you have the looseness of Xander Zayas. As Spomer, he gets in the range he wants to get to, but he's throwing punches at the end. Defense has taken Spomer completely out of the fight. Completely. See both the footwork and the upper-body movement from Zayas there. Spomer came forward. Coming to the end of two, our co-feature, prior to the world title fight. Ceiling at the theater at Madison Square Garden, round number three of our co-feature. Two undefeated fighters meeting up. All the promise and hype surrounding Xander Zayas. In that last round, you were commenting onto his defensive prowess, Timmy. Yeah, you want to take your opponent out of the fight? Defense. Defense wins championships, no doubt about it. But you see, the defensive prowess of Xander Zayas not allowing Spomer to land anything effective on him. Timmy is holding him to 9%. I mean, when CompuBox, when you look up at CompuBox and you see the total percent of punches landed and it's single digits, it's at 9% right now. That's all Spomer has generated. Yeah, most people just, they think about punching power, but I think about the complete package. And that's the reason why I hold Shakur Stevenson high. Because defense, when you can't hit your opposition. I mean, haven't we learned Floyd Mayweather? One of the best defensive fighters of all time. He takes you completely out of the fight. And that's what you're seeing right now from Xander Zayas. But the thing that I like about Xander is, is that he's there actually to land his offense as well. He ain't running, he's not going anywhere. He's rolling and slipping underneath shots, landing counters. And he's landing 34% of his punches. Look at that, nice uppercut on the inside. He's not running away from it. Good combination. He finished up with the right hand at the end of it. Again, excellent in transition. He might not have that one punch knockout power test. However, at least you get in the show. You get the show with Xander Zayas. And again, he's only 22 years old. Oh, he got hit with a big shot right there. Looping right hand. Yes, Spomer said that he gets hit with right hands. He said that's the money punch for him. Just 10 seconds to go. Good body work by Spomer as well. The more skillful fighter. That's Xander Zayas. You can see the toughness of Spomer. That's what usually has won him his fights. Letting his hands go and just having, just brute toughness to come forward and take whatever his opposition is giving him. But tonight, he has a slippery, he has a slippery problem inside that ring with the defensive prowess of Xander Zayas. Good shots right there, Spomer. Ooh. Joe Tessitore and Tim Bradley with you ringside. Bernardo Osuna, our reporter, and Mark Creagle scoring the fight. Xander Zayas against Slava Spomer. And you see the power punches and the body shot work of Zayas with a 20 to two advantage. He says, this is the breakthrough fight for me. To defeat an undefeated fighter. He said, I'm so close to the finish line, the main goal of getting a world title shot. And he said he hit him low there, so Slava's gonna get a full five minutes if he wants it. Yeah, that's all about it right there, isn't it? Ouch. Yeah, in situations like this, I'm taking my time. But most fighters with the toughness of Spomer, he's gonna come right back. I'm gonna take my time and let myself recuperate a little bit more. Good right hand from Xander. Yeah, Spomer landed his own right hand as well. He landed one earlier during this round. Got a piece of it with that left uppercut. Yeah, obviously you see that Xander doesn't respect the power of Spomer. That's the reason why he's standing there and he's looking to be, to take more risk inside that pocket. Spomer must not hit that hard. See the full day of college basketball action tomorrow on ESPN in Alabama. The Iron Bowl on Hardwood starting at 4 p.m. Eastern tomorrow. Definitely, it's a technical prowess and the skills of Xander, which is the difference. And Xander just seems like he's just much bigger, a lot bigger than Spomer. Well, he always has that muscularity and that width across the shoulders and through the back. It'll be interesting to see where he ends up in his career as he advances himself and gets his full man strength to him. It's 154 pounds. Probing with that jab to the midsection. Yeah, he's looking for a shot over the top. Ooh. You see the roll under? Yep. Take care of that defense. He doubled up the left hand there as well. Now he's finding a rhythm offensively. And he's punching in between shots, Tess, which is hard to do. That's next level. Targeting the body, level changes, and he's having a really good finish to this fourth round down the stretch. Really punishing Spomer right now. He really is. I don't know how much more Spomer's gonna be able to take these shots like this if he continues. Referee, I'm sure, is gonna look to stop this match. Remember how much this means to Xander Zayas, he says, at this stage of his career. Closing in on big goals. Oh! He got one of them. You never know what's gonna happen. Just when Xander was having his best work, Zayas absolutely dominated the fourth round. And then in the last 10 seconds, Spomer came up with something, Tess. He's taking advantage of the aggression of the opposition. In the right hand, he told us, that's the shot that he's vulnerable for. And you see him loop it. You see that Xander was trying to get more aggressive. He's going for the knockout. He thought he had him rolling. However, Spomer, the veteran that he is, set him up for that shot right there. But you could understand why Zayas had the confidence just, you know, let the hands go, nothing's coming back at me. He threw 99 punches in the fourth round. He landed 41, 29 of them were power shots. He threw 65 power punches. Meanwhile, Spomer was extremely limited in that fourth round. He only had four total connects. Yeah, that's fine. He was limited, Tess. Yeah, he was taking, he was taking, he lined up. Zayas right where he wanted him. You know, that's the thing, the toughness of Spomer and that right hand, that's always been a part of his plan. He told us in the fighter meet, I want to land that right hand. So he sat on it and he let him get vulnerable. He let him over commit and he made him pay for that big, with that big shot. Moussaou Diag is a constant force that you've seen through the years with Bud Crawford and that team from Omaha, Nebraska with Red Spikes and Beaumac Brian McIntyre. And now Keyshawn Davis is the guy they've been with for years, who they say is the next great one. And he will get his chance in moments to become a world champion, but he's got a tough task in front of him against the veteran, very big ring IQ of Dennis Berinchik, who defeated Emanuel Navarrete a year ago to win the vacant WBO 135 pound world title. And now his first title defense comes against fellow and beaten fellow Olympic silver medalist, Keyshawn Davis. Another right hand over the top. You know, why is that right hand landed for Spomer? Well, look at the lead hand. The lead hand is down, first of all. And then anytime that Diaz really looks for a shot, he's happy on his front foot because he likes to load up with that left hook. That's his favorite punch. So he's there to be hit and another low blow. That's another low blow. This is going to be a point deduction. So it's the second full low blow where Spomer's been granted the time. Yeah, but that's not his fault. That's not his fault. He's pushing his head down. So it changed the angle of the punch. That is not Xander Zayas' fault. And I know the ref can't look at the video right now, the instant replay right now, however. Oh, he's watching it on the big screen. Okay, not taking away a point. Not taking away a point. And you can't push his gloves down either because if you cause him to hit you low, that's on you. Time in, box. Really interesting. And by the way, great job by Charlie Fitch in real time to look up to the big screen here at Madison Square Garden where we're showing our program feed and say, hey, can you show it again? And then to turn to the commission who gave him the answer he wanted to as well. When you have someone that wants to do it right. And then Roy Jones in the corner telling Slava, hey, take your time this time. Joe Testator and Tim Bradley on the cold ringside with you here. Round number six, Zayas and Spomer. Springing Mark Kriegel to see how he has it scored. 50-45, five rounds and nothing. Xander Zayas, Spomer is a good game fighter, just not as good or as big as Xander who can do so much with that left hand. Just to follow up the conversation about the low blows, by the way, Roy Jones Jr. did say to his charge, if he goes low again, you go right back out. Eye for an eye, eye for an eye. You don't know how much a low blow takes out of your legs. So he's saying, hey, retaliate. One of the most skilled fighters of the generation, but there's a reason why you gain experience as a pro, right? Again, pulling the head down. Yes. He doesn't realize he's causing it. And Charlie Fitch, the referee, told him that a round ago. And I like how dominant Charlie Fitch is being with his calls, because he's saying, stop playing, stop playing with me. No, it didn't happen. And you see the fight is continuing. Now, if Charlie would have stepped in and said, oh, let me give you a break, then he would have milked it. Nope. Spomer wasn't as hurt as he was showing. Combination from Xander. The only way that I see, as of right now, Xander even coming close to losing this fight is if he just gets caught slipping. And it's going to be with the right hand. There was that moment late in the fourth round where he got caught with the right hand. Yeah. You know, Xander, you know, he hears the noise. There's no doubt about it. That's the reason why he was trying to finish the match earlier. A few rounds ago, when he got caught with that shot. Spomer's done nothing there. Right now, it's a 170 to 30 advantage in total connects. Zia's in complete control. A technician. Which punch is it going to be tonight? Is it going to be the right hook? Is it going to be the straight left hand? Is it going to be the uppercut? Is it going to be a body shot? This young man always delivers, and he delivers in different fashions each time out. Cleveland, Ohio. He's got nothing but time ahead of him, but yet you see his athleticism. You see his skill. You're like, I think he could put him in. Put him in. Like, legit contenders right now, but obviously it doesn't need to be rushed. Tess, if he's doing this to these type of fighters, you've got to step up his competition. You have to. You know, you get him comfortable in this type of environment, and then he gets in there with a lion, and you see some things that are different. It's going to affect him later. So you've got to step up the competition with Abdullah Mason. You have to. Or he's going to be stuck in this, again, this type of fight. Meanwhile, a guy who knows what it's like to be... Yeah, Javier Centeno says, I'm happy with Xander boxing his way to victory, but if we hurt him, we are going to go for the finish. Roy Jones Jr. on the other side says, look, I told my guy Slava, 60% is sharp. Don't load up on those punches because he's going to counter you. What he should tell him is to go down to the body of Xander. You know, he's headhunting a little bit too much, and he's looking for that shot. Xander's totally, completely aware of it now, but if you make Xander pay attention to the body, it could open up that shot that he's looking for over the top. Well, look at how relaxed they are in the locker room of Keyshawn Davis as you see the 25-year-old, the undefeated young fighter in BOMAC, one of the great trainers of this generation. Of course, the trainer for Bud Crawford, who is here in New York to support the young man he mentors, and that is the challenge. Dennis Berinchik, who's 19-0, the WBO lightweight champion, the Ukrainian fighter, making his first title defense. We saw him in San Diego win the world championship. Now he comes cross-country here to defend it in New York. Look, Xander has a lot of skills, has a ton of experience, but when I watch him, every time I watch him, you know, he doesn't get me off my feet, you know, like, he's skillful, but I've seen more skillful fighters than him. Nothing's really glaring at me with his style. Centeno, the trainer for Xander Zayas, told him, let's push tempo a little bit, but at range, but let's push the tempo a little bit here as we've arrived at round eight. You know, my last statement, I mean, I say that with all due respect. I like Xander, I like his skills, you know, and I can say that I wasn't a sensational type of fighter. Like, it wasn't one thing that I did extremely well, and I didn't have a whole lot of punching power in that. 160 pounds. You gotta have some, you gotta have some thump. Even with this performance, there's nothing that's really glaring at me and saying, wow, wow, wow. My, I mean, it was my determination. That was, that was what it was. Well, that's, that was a plus, plus, plus. But I had speed like this. Yes. Put combinations together. You know, I wasn't a born fighter. I came forward just like Xander. Similar. I sit next to you and I stare at a Hall of Fame ring and a diamond Rolex after three fights with Danny Pacquiao. And you're telling me that's, okay. What we saw with Abdullah Mason. I understand. Well, you're saying, wow. Who would do anything to have your career resume, by the way. Yeah, I'm sure he will. However, this is a very studious effort by Xander Zayas. Showing his complete arsenal right now of his skillset. And it's obvious that he likes guys that are directly in front of him. This is where he soars the most. When you, when you have to force him to fight you. My man Xander, look, he can, he can do it off the, off the jab. He can create as he goes, but this is where he soars when guys that are, that will let their hands go. Right. And the target becomes available. Yes. Oh boy. Has it been available? Oh, that, that hurt him. That's the shot right there. If Xander wants to end this fight, it's going to be from a body shot, a liver shot. He's landed 72 of them in this fight so far. Of course, there have also been two low blows. He is really on the attack here effectively. The end is near. You see Spalmer protecting that body. There's a right hand behind the jab from Xander as well. Rounds. Xander Zayas has a 154 to 33 connect advantage. This was a fighter in Slava Spalmer, who everybody we talked to, especially those who have followed the scene of the fringe contenders in Europe said, I'm telling you, he's tough, he's durable. And this is going to be a much tougher night than Xander Zayas realizes it. It hasn't been. I thought his last fight was going to be tough. And I thought this one was going to be tough, but obviously it isn't. Xander comes prepared. And again, with that offense, it's going to be tough to beat him. It really is. You're going to have to knock out Xander Zayas in order to beat him. Because again, look, he's technically sound. He punches in between. He punches while you're punching. He punches before you. He beats you to the punch. He out boxes you from the outside and he's defensively clever as well. But again, he's just missing that, that one punch that can hurt you, that can take you out. Champ is getting ready. You see him over on the left. Dennis Baranchik, the undefeated world champion, who was able to neutralize the very effective Emmanuel Navarrete to win the bacon belt. Coming up next against Keyshawn Davis. Nice angle change right there from Keyshawn. I mean, excuse me, from Xander Zayas. Going down to the body. That's the key. Go downstairs. And he just might get to stop his stuff. Oh, he went downstairs there. Body shot clearly affected Suave. And now a lot of time to work with for Xander Zayas. Swept across that body with the left hand and now Zayas is looking to close the show. Another body shot comes in. That is it. TKO victory, Xander Zayas. That's what we waiting on right here.