Let’s not be too hard on Jessie Magdaleno.
The former 122-pound champ did what he came to do Thursday in Las Vegas, win a fight to remain in title contention at 126. And he did it under difficult circumstances, as opponent Yenifel Vicente had little regard for the rules.
Three official low blows and a late punch that rendered Magdaleno temporarily incapacitated – which resulted in a 10th-round disqualification – is a lot to overcome.
And, in my opinion, Magdaleno would’ve deserved a wide decision victory had Vicente not been DQ’d for one last, inexplicable low blow in the final round. That’s how two judges saw it, too. Max DeLuca and Patricia Morse Jarman both scored it 87-79. I had it 88-78.
Dave Moretti somehow scored it 85-81 for Magdaleno, actually giving Vicente five of the nine rounds that were scored. Magdaleno won on his card only because of three point reductions and the winner’s two knockdowns.
I don’t agree with Moretti’s scoring but I understand it, which leads me to my main point here.
Magdaleno landed a total of 64 punches in the fight, according to CompuBox. Yes, you read that correctly. That would be an average of 6.4 per round over 10 rounds. And, as we know, he and Vicente (54 punches landed) fought only 9½.
That paltry output was largely the result of Magdaleno’s unwillingness to take chances, to kick it up a notch, to seize control of the fight as one would expect a star fighter to do. Instead, he waited to counter punch … and waited and waited. The result was boring fight (aside from all the fouls) and the opportunity for Vicente to be at least somewhat competitive.
Many fans undoubtedly were as disappointed with Magdaleno’s performance as they were disgusted by Vicente’s.
Again, Magdaleno got the job done. He even showed flashes of the kind of fighter he can be, landing quick, accurate punches here and there. His two knockdowns were good examples of that. He certainly did nothing that should deny him the opportunity to fight for a title in a second division, which has been his stated goal.
Magdaleno (28-1, 18 KOs) is the No. 1 challenger to Gary Russell Jr.’s featherweight title and No. 4 to Shakur Stevenson’s 126-pound belt. At some point soon he’ll probably get one of those fights.
However, the fighter who defeated future Hall of Famer Nonito Donaire by a clear unanimous decision to win his 122-pound title certainly has even bigger objectives. He’d like to be a significant figure in the sport, like Donaire, not only one in a glut of beltholders.
He didn’t fight as if he had that in mind on Thursday. He played it safe, too safe. He waited, he countered, he sometimes clinched when Vicente got close to him, when he should’ve said to himself, “I’m better than this guy, much better, and I’m going to demonstrate that by kicking his fouling ass.”
Instead, Magdaleno was content to win. And that only goes so far.
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Jessie Magdaleno wins fight those in boxing would like to forget