Brandon Figueroa defeated Mark Magsayo by a unanimous decision in a 12-round fight for the WBC’s “interim” 126-pound title Saturday at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.
The official scores were 118-108, 117-109 and 117-109. Boxing Junkie had it closer, 115-111 for Figueroa, seven rounds to five.
Figueroa (24-1-1, 18 KOs) is now the mandatory challenger for Rey Vargas’ WBC championship.
The Texan got off to a slow start against the more athletic Filipino, who got inside, did damage and then moved out of harm’s way or held Figueroa when he tried to respond.
The holding would come back to bite Magsayo as Figuero picked up his punch output, as the former 126-pound champ was docked two points for holding.
That didn’t have a direct impact on the scoring but it removed a tactic that worked for Magsayo (24-2, 16 KOs).
Figueroa seemed to outwork Magsayo down the stretch to pull away on the cards, giving him two consecutive victories at 126 after losing his 122-pound belt to Stephen Fulton Jr. by a majority decision in 2021.
You can read a full report here.
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Jose Armando Resendiz stopped Jarrett Hurd after the ninth round of a scheduled 10-round 162-pound fight.
The wild, back-and-forth fight was stopped on the advice of the ring doctor because of a cut on Hurd’s upper lip.
The relentless Resendiz (14-1, 10 KOs) was ahead on the cards because he outworked Hurd (24-3, 16 KOs). Boxing Junkie had him leading 89-82 after nine rounds, eight rounds to one.
However, Hurd had many good moments in the back-and-forth war. The 24-year-old Mexican simply threw — and landed — more punches than the former unified 154-pound titleholder and was never hurt.
Hurd, who hadn’t fought for 21 months, has now lost three of his last four fights.
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Nineteen-year-old middleweight prospect Elijah Garcia of Phoenix stopped Uruguayan contender Amilcar Vidal at 2:17 of the fourth round of a scheduled 10-rounder.
Garcia (14-0, 12 KOs) and Vidal (16-1, 12 KOs) were engaged in a spirited back-and-forth fight when the former hurt the latter with a right hook and then followed with a flurry of hard, accurate punches that put Vidal down.
Referee Jack Reiss quickly assessed Vidal’s condition and stopped the fight.
“This is what everybody dreams of right here,” Garcia said. “This ain’t like a surprise. This is what we’ve worked for since I turned pro. We’re going to keep going one step at a time.”
Garcia turned pro at 16 years old in 2020.
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Brandon Figueroa and Mark Magsayo will face off in a scheduled 12-round 126-pound fight tonight (Saturday) in Ontario, California (Showtime).
Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KOs) is a former 122-pound beltholder who will be fighting at 126 for the second time. Magsayo (24-1, 16 KOs) lost his 126-pound title to Rey Vargas in his most-recent fight, in July.
Also on the card, former 154-pound titleholder Jarret Hurd (24-2, 16 KOs) will take on Jose Armando Resendiz (13-1, 9 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round 160-pound bout.
And 160-pound contender Amilcar Vidal (16-0, 12 KOs) will face Elijah García (13-0, 11 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder.
The featured bouts on the card begin at 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT. The main event will take place later in show.
Boxing Junkie will post the result of the main event and featured bouts immediately after they end. Simply return to this post and refresh when the time comes.
Full coverage – a fight story, photo gallery and analysis – will follow on separate posts the day of the fight and the following day.
Enjoy the fights!
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