NO TRASH TALK REQUIRED
The Ring: How has life changed for you since the big Super Bowl appearance with Bad Bunny? Xander Zayas: Being honest, life has not dramatically changed that much. There was a lot of growth on social media.
knew I had to perform. It was easy, in a way. I just did what I do. I just did what I have been doing my whole life.
getting ready for his fight [with Agustin Quintana]. I was obviously trying to take care of him and not let him eat too much. (laughs)
Ring: But were you excited about being part of the Super Bowl halftime show?
Ring: What will be your best recollection of that time?
That comes with a lot of eyes and a lot of attention on the Super Bowl. I knew attention would come my way, since I won a week prior to the Super Bowl and following up with the appearance in Bad Bunny’s halftime show. People that don’t know boxing became fans of mine on social media. Ring: How did it happen? XZ: I was surprised when I got the news that Bad Bunny, who is Benito Martínez Ocasio, wanted
XZ: Seeing Benito perform up close like that. He was in the back, playing dominoes with us as a way to release the stress of performing on such a big stage. We were playing dominoes, and when it was time to get ready, we all went to lockers to get our gear on, and I saw Benito change. He was getting amped up, and as an artist, the biggest artist in the world, I was impressed seeing how calm and relaxed he was. I learned being backstage
Zayas with entertainer and countryman Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl.
me as part of his Super Bowl halftime show. I work with Benito’s company, Rimas Sports, and they handle my publicity and sponsorships outside of the ring. I have a good relationship with Benito and his team. The week before my fight, I got a call. He already had an idea what he wanted in his Super Bowl show, and he wanted two fighters. But they were supposed to be two actors, not me and Emiliano Vargas. After some thought, Benito told the Super Bowl [halftime show organizers] he had two fighters signed with Rimas, and they thought about it. They kept up conversation with me, with my father, Orlando Garcia, and two weeks later I was on a plane to San Francisco heading to the Super Bowl. Ring: How did you block that distraction out going into your first WBO title defense against German Abass Baraou? XZ: I did it the same way I always do it. I blocked it out because the way I see it, I risk my life every time I step into the ring. If I don’t win, none of this will be here. None of this attention would matter. I knew I had to do my job. I
with Benito, going with the flow. I try to be relaxed and have confidence in myself every time. This is what I love. Entertaining is what Benito loves. We went back, celebrated and had a good time. We watched some of the game and left in the third quarter. Ring: How many people recognized you? XZ: A lot. I got a lot of love from everywhere. It was amazing. Social media went crazy. I saw people watching videos of the show screaming when they saw me. It was pretty cool. But more so, that Super Bowl halftime show was a big moment for Puerto Rico. I unified the WBO and WBA junior middleweight titles and I won it in Puerto Rico on January 31. The next night, Benito won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in Los Angeles. The very next week, we were together for the Super Bowl, on the biggest stage in American television. I thought it was a very historic time for Puerto Rico. He became the first artist to win Album of the Year for a record sung entirely in Spanish. I became a unified world champion in Puerto Rico.
XZ: I was when I first got the news. I was excited like a little kid. I was going to be in the Super Bowl at halftime with Benito. There was a lot of big potential for me there. I couldn’t pass it up. No one knew. Only my close friends knew. It was a secret. I told my team and friends after the fight. I left the following day after that. Ring: What was the preparation like? XZ: The talent had to make sure everyone was there on time. We rehearsed the whole week, and there were longer days than two hours. Most of the dancers and actors had to be there from 5 to 11. The fighters had to be there from 5 to 9. It was overall a great experience. I met some of the guys and the dancers. It was a fun experience. Emiliano and I got along really well. I wouldn’t say we have the closest relationship, but it wasn’t a weird thing. We spent time together and had good conversations. He was
Ring: Let’s remind people how you got started. XZ: I used to be bullied as a kid. I was a small kid for my age. I was shy, not confident. I was always getting beat up. My mother, Yaitza Castro, wanted me to defend myself and grow confidence. I fell in love with the sport and the craft. It was in my neighborhood. I came from a very tough neighborhood called Cantera San Juan in Puerto Rico. It was the same as Las Margaritas, the other place I grew up in. For me, it was hell. I used to get beat up every day. I shut myself in, and my mom wanted me to be a kid and go outside. She figured out something was going on and she got me into boxing.
The baton has been passed to Zayas by the great Felix Trinidad.
up by the kids in the neighborhood, and I started going to the gym and I got beat up there, too, by a girl in the gym. (laughs) I was getting beat up everywhere. It went from bad to worse. But I kept going back. Even on the days I didn’t want to go, I went. It showed character. Even today when I don’t feel like training, I remember those times getting beat up in the gym and I kept going back. It shows the difference between me and other fighters, and it will always be the difference between me and other fighters. Oh, I cried going to the gym; I cried in the gym; I cried going home from the gym. (laughs) This happened every day, five days a week. Ring: When did things change? XZ: When I started fighting back. It was either that or I was going to continue
crying every day. My parents put up with it. They wanted me to build confidence. Even if I don’t do this in five or 10 years from now, I will always have that character and confidence I got from boxing. It built character towards my future. That’s what my parents were looking for. I remember the first time I knocked someone down. I was maybe 9, 10 years old. During a sparring session, I knocked some kid down and thought it was pretty cool. Ring: When did boxing take more prominence in your life? XZ: Probably when I was 12. That’s
Ring: What were those first days like? XZ: Not good. (laughs) I was getting beat
54 RINGMAGAZINE.COM
RINGMAGAZINE.COM 55
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker