Xander Zayas Easily Dominates Quincy LaVallais
As the smart money suggested that he would, talented super welterweight prospect Xander Zayas (13-0, 9 KO’s) continued to shine in his latest contest. The Top Rank pushed boxer accomplished this by pitching a masterclass performance against Quincy “Chico” LaVallais (12-3-1, 7 KO’s) in securing a strong unanimous decision. Heading into the match, LaVallais thought that his experience would aid him in achieving victory. This was not the case.
Top Rank has done a good job of keeping Zayas, 19, busy with him staging four bouts in 2020 and six fights in 2021. With this first 2022 outing in the books, it will be interesting to see how many fights the talented Puerto Rican will slide in this year. At the moment, the gifted pugilist is not listed in the top fifteen of any of the four major sanctioning bodies. Let’s see if his winning ways can alter that in the very near future.
ONE-WAY ACTION
Zayas was held to an economic offensive output during the first on account of LaVallais’ defensive prowess. Despite his slick moves though, it was Zayas who landed far more clean shots. In fact, outside of his defense, there was little that Chico had to hang his hat on. The Puerto Rican flipped a switch in the second which saw his offense explode. Paying heed to both crisp head and body work, Zayas was able to push Chico to the ropes.
A thumping right hook on the ear and right uppercut shook up LaVallais and led to more than a minute of a scientific savage siege. The fight was very near being stopped as Chico came very close to being knocked out of the ring. The action slowed greatly in the third, but the dominance of the Top Rank fighter did not wane in the least. By the fourth period it was becoming evident that Chico was no longer competing to win but merely surviving. He was extremely content to languish on the ropes, move in reverse and slip punches. He rarely threw his own offense and missed well more than he hit.
PREDICTABLE OUTCOME
During the fifth, Zayas continuously stabbed LaVallais to the body with the accuracy of a seasoned prison hitman. Caught daydreaming on the ropes once again, Chico found himself hammered by a pair of left hooks that delighted the crowd. This set off a sequence that saw Zayas play intellectual “meenie miny mo” with LaVallais. That is because the Puerto Rican bruiser was frequently switching his attack, alternating from the head to body beautifully and landing almost at will.
During the seventh, Zayas allowed his footwork to take center stage as he used quickly shifting angles to run his foe into numerous shots. To his credit, LaVallais attempted to battle shoulder-to-shoulder in the final period. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t enjoy any additional success. Given his overt dominance all evening, Zayas earned a predictably wide unanimous decision of 80-71 and 80-72 twice.
Reading Time: 3 minutes
By: Bakari Simpson
Be the first to comment