Make FightsATW Your Preferred Combat Sports Source
Enjoy our boxing and wrestling coverage? Add Fights Around The World as a Preferred Source on Google so our latest stories can show up more often in your Top Stories.
Add FightsATW on GoogleOn Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Top Rank will have more than their unified junior middleweight champion, Xander Zayas, on the card. Middleweight Jahi Tucker (16-1-1, 7 KOs) will face the undefeated Euri Cedeno (14-0-1, 12 KOs) as both fighters look to inch closer to a shot at one of the top spots in the rankings of one of the four sanctioning organizations.
The 23-year-old Tucker from Queens, NY, was busy in the first half of 2025, scoring back-to-back unanimous decision victories. But after his June fight, things quieted not only for him but also for his promotion, Top Rank, whose media rights deal with ESPN expired at the end of July. Tucker was open about the second half of 2025, which was more of a learning period for him.
“When you get to that level and start climbing the rankings and fighting for the world title, you’re only going to fight once, twice, maybe three times a year because those fights have to make sense for everyone involved,” Tucker told FightsATW.
“I got to learn the business side of boxing a bit more. I stayed training, kept working on taking my talents to the next level, and working on my weaknesses. It was just another training arc for me.”
As the new year began, Tucker was scheduled to face Yoenli Hernandez on the March 28 Sebastian Fundora vs. Keith Thurman fight card. The Ring Magazine reported that Tucker went in a different direction because he “did not receive a satisfying financial number.” Tucker went into detail about what happened that led him not to fight on that card.
“Simple and plain, they offered me $100,000 plus an interim belt,” said Tucker. “I accepted the initial agreement. After that, they took the interim belt off the table and said it would only be for a number one contender spot, while keeping the money the same. I told them, let’s go up on the money, and they said they couldn’t do it. I then said, ‘No fight.’ My people had also advised me that this wasn’t the best idea. Nowadays, it’s gotta make sense. There’s gotta be cheese on the plate.”
Tucker would instead take a fight in February against Sona Akale on a Star Boxing card. He would secure a sixth-round TKO victory, but more importantly, shake off some ring rust from his inactivity.
Now, on Saturday night, he faces Cedeno, whose last fight was in January, when he scored a unanimous decision victory, securing his first win in 2026. While he has mostly fought at the club level, Cedeno is ranked number seven by the WBA and WBO, which makes the fight even more important for Tucker.
“Right now, the middleweight division is no man’s land, so I’m about to go claim territory. That’s all that’s been on my brain,” he said.
In the end, Tucker knows that Saturday night, live on DAZN PPV, is his opportunity to show the world who he is and what his potential is at middleweight. With that said, what should fans expect? “Domination,” said Tucker. “I win, I reign supreme, and that’s all that matters.”
Discover more from Fights Around The World
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
