Xander Zayas is proving he’s a contender…

The 21-year-old Puerto Rican professional boxer, touted as a contender since he was a teenager, dominated Patrick Teixeira in a unanimous decision victory on Saturday night in New York City to remain undefeated as a junior middleweight prospect.

Zayas (19-0, 12 KOs) also helped establish his boxing future in a different way at Hulu Theater inside Madison Square Garden. The native of San Juan was fighting on the weekend of the Puerto Rico Day Parade, a tradition for fighters from the island to be stars of the show at the Garden. Miguel Cotto and Felix Trinidad are among those who’ve made this tradition memorable.

Zayas, who signed with Top Rank when he was 16 and made his pro debut six weeks after his 17th birthday, marched forward from the start with attacks to the body.

He landed 10 body punches in the second round and another nine in the third, while Teixeira managed just three during those six minutes. That put Zayas in full control, and by the end of the fight, he had landed 76 body punches to 12 for Teixeira.

Zayas’ overall advantage in punches landed was 204-63, and he was threatening from start to finish.

But Teixeira (34-5, 25 KOs), who held the WBO junior middleweight world championship in 2021, stood tough and made it to the final bell.

Zayas moved his attack upstairs in Round 8 and snapped Teixeira’s head back several times with hooks and uppercuts. By the end of the ninth, the face of the 33-year-old Brazilian was bloody, and he was in survival mode, moving away from Zayas and throwing little offense back at the young fighter. Teixeira’s movement and toughness enabled him to make it to the end.

Two of the three judges scored every round for Zayas, while the third gave Teixeira one round.

“Thank you to the people of Puerto Rico,” Zayas said afterward. “Since I’m 5 years old, I’ve been dreaming about this.”