I am an undefeated world champion but this ancient practice has me on the ropes

Xander Zayas has never tasted defeat professionally. However, there is something that has been giving him the standing eight count lately outside of the ring — yoga.

While engaged in a demanding training camp toward his junior middleweight championship unification fight with WBA titleholder Abass Baraou in San Juan, Puerto Rico on Saturday night, Zayas was looking for a way to keep loose. The WBO champ had yoga recommended to him and has been doing it for over a month heading into this weekend. Though, it hasn’t knocked him out, the ancient Indian practice has had him on the ropes as a new, unforgiving opponent.

“It is hard. It is humbling for sure,” Zayas tells DAZN News. “Being a high-level athlete and being too competitive and being able to always execute at the highest level and then coming here and doing movement that you’re like ‘I’m supposed to be able to do those’ and not being able to do them … it’s definitely humbling. It’s amazing, though.”

As for which yoga move — whether the Cobra, Downward-Facing Dog, Mountain Pose, or Tree — is most difficult for Zayas to pull off?

“Every pose is hard,” he affirms, “to be honest.”

For Zayas, his downtime outside of camp was going to be spent playing video games. Although he vows to usher in his NBA 2K and FIFA as fight night draws near for extra relaxation, Zayas is happy he opted for yoga as the alternative. In fact, Zayas believes the practice has sharpened attributes, making them transferable to the sweet science.

“It helps with mobility, it helps with balance,” Zayas rattles off. “It relaxes your brain a little bit, your breathing.”

The latter is helpful considering the meteoric rise Zayas has been on. Last July, at 22, Zayas became the youngest world champion in men’s boxing by defeating Jorge Garcia Perez in July. Last year, he also signed with Bad Bunny’s sports management and marketing agency Rimas Sports which will be enhancing his profile and star power outside of boxing.

“They have all the leverage to do it,” Zayas says. “It has helped me and elevated me to a different type of eyeballs outside of the sport. We are working on a couple of things and we keep quiet until they happen.”

Whether that includes his fellow Puerto Rican Bad Bunny leading him out to the ring Saturday night before the world music sensation performs the Super Bowl LX Halftime Show on February 8 remains to be seen. Zayas did not rule it out.

“We’ll see,” he says with a smile.

Either way, Zayas has one mission in mind, body and soul for the weekend … with yoga playing a small part: “I’m going to bring all that glory back to my island.”