Via Mark Eisner: As expected, former WBC super bantamweight champion Rey Vargas (36-0.22 KOs) used his superior boxing skills to beat the previously undefeated WBC featherweight champion Mark Magsayo ( 24-1, 16 KOs) with a 12-round decisive match on Saturday night. on Showtime at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Vargas was defeated by Magsayo in the ninth round, but was uninjured. After the knockdown, Vargas came back strong to defeat Magsayo in the tenth, eleventh and twelfth rounds to get the victory.
The score is 115-112, 115-112 for Vargas, and 114-113 for Magsayo. Boxing News 24 scored for Vargas 115-112.
Underline the result:
- In a beautiful fight back, former WBA super bantamweight champion Brandon Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KOs) stopped Carlos Castro (27-2, 12 KOs) in the sixth round knockout in the 126 lb WBC knockout. Figueroa defeated Castro in the third round. In the sixth round, Figueroa, 25, injured Castro with a headbutt, and then attacked him as he fought off the ropes. Referee Mark Nelson then quickly stepped in and halted the game at 2:11 of the round. You could argue that referee Nelson stopped the game a bit too soon, but he didn’t want to miss the chance as Castro was fouled by Figueroa at the time. In Figueroa’s previous game, he lost the 122-lb WBA title to Stephen Fulton by 12-round majority decision last November in Las Vegas.
- Frank Martin (16-0, 12 KO) tonight looks sensational, knockdown Jackson Marinez (19-3, 7 KOs) in the tenth round after beating him twice in the light action competition. ‘Ghost’ Martin defeated 31-year-old Marinez in rounds 9 and 10. The duel was stopped at 0:30 on the tenth. 27-year-old lightweight contender Martin is being rapidly boosted by his pitchers, who believe he has the potential to win a world title soon.
- Unparalleled Welding Weight Rashidi Ellis (24-0, 14 KO) kill overmatched veteran Jose Marrufo (13-11-2, 1 KO) by first-round knockout in a scheduled eighth round. Ellis, 29, defeated Marrufo twice in the round before the fight came to a halt. Ellis has been in the pro ranks for nine years since 2013, and he has yet to face a top contender all the while. At some point, Ellis’ manager needed to start coaching before he got old.
- Bantamweight Ramon Cardenas (21-1, 10 KOs) defeated Michelle Banquez (20-2, 14 KOs) by unanimous decision 10 rounds. The judges’ scores were 97-93, 97-93 and 96-94.
Preview:
Mark Magsayo (24-0, 16 KOs), whom some boxing fans compare to young Manny Pacquiao, recently won the 126-lb WBC title, beating champion Gary Russell Jr by 12 decided in January of last year.
In the lower bout, former WBA/WBC super bantamweight champion Brandon Figueroa faced Carlos Castro in a WBC featherweight elimination match.
It was the 25-year-old Figueroa’s first game since losing the 122-lb WBA & WBC title to Stephen Fulton Jr last November.
Also on this card, undefeated lightweight competitor Frank Martin (15-0, 11 KOs) takes on Jackson Marinez (19-2, 7 KOs) in a 10 round 138 lbs.
“The comparisons, you know, some people say, ‘Okay, Filipinos, now we’re going to talk about Pacquiao.’ That’s what Pacquiao’s career has done,” Paulie Malignaggi told ProBox TVtalks about Mark Magsayo being compared to former eighth-place world champion Manny Pacquiao.
“Now that every Filipino boxer comes out, we talk about Manny Pacquiao because that’s him. We know there were Filipino boxers before Pacquiao like Elorde and all that, but this guy laid the groundwork for the next generation. Every modern Filipino boxer has to respect Manny Pacquiao.
“This is more than anyone else we talk about it because the opponent, Rey Vargas, trains with Nacho Beristain. He is also a world-class boxer and a former world champion in the children’s featherweight division.
“I don’t know how he got to the kids featherweight category by the time he got it at 5’10.” He came up with a lot of evidence on his own, so you have the built-in, Mexican-Philippines rivalry, started by the Pacquiao-Marquez rivalry, which everyone talks about.
“Because of that rivalry, you ended up having Freddie Roach vs Nacho Beristain as a coach because a lot of Filipino boxers are heading for Freddie Roach in the United States.
“In Mexico, of course, Nacho Beristain is at the top of all the internationally renowned Mexican coaches. So you have a solid storyline here between two people who can fight and have proven that they can fight.
“Magsayo took out Gary Russell. Gary Russell has been a champion for a long time. I don’t think he has lost since the Lomachenko battle, it was a long time ago and he played impressively.
“My disappointment with Gary Russell is that I don’t think he has reached his full potential. I would like to see him fight more often than show up once a year,” Malignaggi said.
Rey Vargas: “I’m Better” Mark Magsayo
“I feel happy, full of energy, it’s a big jump, a big point. Where too many positives can come and go,” Rey Vargas told DAZN.
“We are both top boxers, we are both at the top, but I still feel like a world champion. I know what it means to be there, baby, what it means to be there, but it doesn’t scare me about what Magsayo says or does, because I know what it’s like to be there and I want to be there for a while. Again.
“Even if Magsayo is there and he’s good and undefeated, if he’s good then I’m better.”
Newly crowned WBC featherweight champion Mark Magsayo defended his title tonight against technically excellent former WBC 122-lb champion Rey Vargas in a Showtime title match at the Alamodome in San Francisco. Antonio, Texas. The TV portion of the pass begins at 9:00 p.m. ET.
