MARK Magsayo faces fellow former world champion Brandon Figueroa for the interim World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight belt on March 4 at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
The 27-year-old Magsayo is eager to return after suffering his first career defeat last year. Magsayo lost his WBC featherweight belt to veteran Rey Vargas by split decision on July 9, 2022. He dropped Vargas in the ninth round but it wasn’t enough as he only got the nod of one of the three judges with scores of 114-113, 112-115 and 112-115.
The 26-year-old Figueroa just moved up to featherweight after a two-year reign as world champion in the super bantamweight division. Figueroa won the interim World Boxing Association (WBA) super bantamweight belt with an eighth round stoppage of Yonfrez Parejo in 2019. He was later on elevated as the regular champion and unified the WBA and WBC super-bantamweight belts with a seventh round knockout of Mexican star Luis Nery in 2021. Figueroa then suffered his first career defeat and lost both of his belts to Stephen Fulton via majority decision later that year.
Figueroa returned as a featherweight in 2022 and stopped Carlos Castro in six rounds.
WHEN IS MAGSAYO VS FIGUEROA?
Brandon Figueroa is set to take on Mark Magsayo on Saturday 4th March 2023 at Toyota Arena in Ontario.
The fight is scheduled for 12 rounds in the Featherweight division, which means the weight limit will be 126 pounds (9 stone or 57.1 KG).
This contest is for the vacant WBC featherweight championship of the world+.
Also, on the undercard will be Amilcar Vidal's and Elijah Lorenzo Garcia's contest and Jarrett Hurd's and Jose Armando Resendiz's bout.
WHAT HAS BEEN SAID?
MARK MAGSAYO:
“Figueroa and I both like to move forward, so everyone knows exactly what kind of fight this will be,” said Magsayo. “My goals are to give the fans the action they love and to regain my place in this division. I’m ready to face anyone they put in front of me. This is a true Mexican vs. Filipino style matchup, and I can’t wait to get back in the ring to perform once again.”
BRANDON FIGUEROA:
“I can’t wait to get back in the ring to do what I love,” said Figueroa. “I want to fight the best, so I’m very motivated to be up against a former champion at featherweight like Magsayo. I’m confident that we’re going to give the fans a great fight, because neither of us like to take a step back. This is my chance to really show what I’m capable of at 126 pounds and I’m just eager to dominate and prove it to the world.”
PREDICTION:
This is a fine matchup between two boxers with similar styles and every time Figueroa steps into the ring it has the potential to be a fight-of-the-year candidate. Figueroa simply throws punches in bunches and just keeps going until eventually wearing his opponent down or stopping him. However, he also takes a lot of shots in return due to this style but so far he’s displayed a rock-solid chin. Magsayo will need to match Figueroa punch for punch to beat him and he won’t have to worry about working his way inside as Figueroa size advantage likely won’t be put to use. Fulton is the only boxer I’ve seen match Figueroa for output so far but I don’t think he deserved the decision. Still, Fulton did draw up a blueprint on how to beat Figueroa which is to match him punch for punch and Magsayo will need to follow it to be successful. This should be an exciting fight from start to finish and as usual I’m going with Figueroa.
Figueroa’s non-stop aggression should be the difference.
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