Top Rank sent Matchroom an offer for British boxer Josh Kelly to fight their homegrown talent Xander Zayas, according to the Puerto Rican prizefighter.
Zayas unified his WBO super welterweight boxing world championship with Abass Baraou’s WBA belt thanks to a split decision win he scored in front of his own fans in San Juan on Jan. 31.
Though the victory divided the judges, Zayas, 23, appeared one of the most improved champions in the sport because of his footwork and fluidity, and forcing the industry to note that 154 pounds is more than a two-man division after months of protracted negotiations between prominent non-titlists Vergil Ortiz and Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis.
Now, Top Rank and Zayas are exploring what’s next — and they seem to have targeted Kelly for a second successive unification fight. Kelly, after all, edged Bakhram Murtazliaev on the same night Zayas beat Baraou, and claimed the IBF title for himself.
“What I do know is they already made a call to Matchroom and Team Josh Kelly, because that’s who I want to face next, that’s what I told them I wanted to do,” Zayas said on Uncrowned’s Boys in the Back show, via Yahoo Sports.
For Zayas, it’s a chance to continually climb the super welterweight rankings, and stake his claim as the No.1 fighter in the division, above Sebastian Fundora, Ennis, and Ortiz.
“I want to collect a third belt.”
“So I know they did that, and we’re waiting for a response from Josh Kelly’s team and hopefully we can make something happen for the summer.”
The winner of such a fight could feasibly become a Fighter of the Year contender due to the individual victories they each scored earlier in 2026, and the achievements they’d each have scored, doubling up, if not trebling their titles.
Zayas has competition for Kelly’s signature, though, as Murtazaliev is pursuing an immediate rematch.
Per Ring Magazine, Murtazaliaev regarded the result as unjust, with members of his team informing the publication that they lobbied for a do-over with the IBF — the sanctioning body for the fight.
And so, while Zayas may be locked in on Kelly, the 31-year-old could take the unification bout, the Murtazliev fight, or, even, an in-house clash with Matchroom stablemate Conor Benn, whom he called “easy money” during a talkSPORT rant, earlier this month.
“It might be a bit unfair on him throwing him in there with me right now,” said Kelly. “For me it is an easy money fight. That would be a tick over fight before I fight someone else.”