UNDEFEATED featherweight fighter Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo of the Philippines returns to the boxing ring this weekend, “smarter and finer” as he looks to beat former super bantamweight titlist Julio Ceja of Mexico.
Part of the undercard for the Manny Pacquiao-Yordenis Ugás fight on Sunday (Manila time) at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, 26-year-old Mr. Magsayo (22-0) said everything is a go for them and they are ready to plunge back into action.
“Expect a smarter and finer Magsayo in this fight. I will do everything that I can for the Philippines and to give an exciting fight for the fans,” said the Bohol native in a Messenger chat with BusinessWorld.
Mr. Magsayo, who is fighting out of Mr. Pacquiao’s MP Promotions, last saw action in April this year, defeating American Pablo Cruz by technical knockout in the fourth round.
Heading into this weekend’s contest, Mr. Magsayo said he is confident of his chances, owing to the “smooth” preparation they have had.
“Me and my team prepared well for this fight. We have a game plan already and my team studied him so we know how to win this fight,” said the Philippine bet who has been training at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood under the guidance of famed trainer-coach Freddie Roach.
“Preparation has been smooth because I got to know more the coaching style of Coach Freddie and our team moves better now under such a setup. My stamina and my tendency for wild punches are some of the things we worked on,” he added.
Mr. Magsayo also shared that he got to watch and observe the training of eight-division world champion Mr. Pacquiao and got some tips from the boxing legend which he hopes to use come fight day.
A victory over Mr. Ceja (32-4-1, 28 KOs) is seen to thrust Mr. Magsayo to a possible crack at the World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight title currently held by Gary Russell, Jr. of the United States.
Former WBC super bantamweight champion Mr. Ceja, for his part, comes into the fight off a split draw with American Brandon Figueroa in 2019 and is now looking to make it a successful first outing in featherweight against Mr. Magsayo.
He, however, lost two straight prior to his last fight. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo