Friday, 31 July 2026 · Philippines
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MAGSAYO-AVALOS A DONE DEAL

CEBU ? The highly anticipated match up between fast rising undefeated featherweight prospect Mark 'Magnifico' Magsayo (13-0, 10KO) and former world title challenger Chris 'Hitman' Avalos (26-4-0, 19KO) of the United States is now a done deal and will be on the undercard of the Donaire-Bedak WBO super bantamweight world title fight at the Cebu Sports Complex on April 23, ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer has informed Philboxing.

?Everything has been agreed upon, we sent them the contract,? Aldeguer said whose April 23 card in partnership with ABS-CBN and Top Rank is fast shaping up to be one of the biggest card yet to be held in the country's hotbed of boxing.

Magsayo had won his last assignment against Eduardo Montoya (17-5-1, 13KO) of Mexico last Saturday at the Waterfront Hotel in Cebu in a not so impressive fashion although it was a lopsided unanimous decision win. Magsayo, who scored a 7th round knockdown over Montoya, was apologetic in victory and conceded that he lost his rhythm because he was trying too much to knock the guy out ? but Montoya refused to engage and was just too happy to finish the contest on his feet.

Avalos, 26, of Lancaster, California lost to Carl Frampton of Britain for the IBF super bantamweight title in February last year at the Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He bounced back by defeating Filipino Rey Perez (20-7-0) in August but lost again in his last fight against undefeated Mexican Oscar Valdez (18-0-0, 16KO) on Sep. 11, 2015 in Las Vegas. Avalos had wins over Filipino contenders Drian Francisco and Rolly Lunas.

Also on the April 23 card is Top Rank-promoted WBO super bantamweight No. 1 contender Jessie Magdaleno (23-0, 17KO) of Las Vegas against a yet to be named opponent. Magdaleno, who knocked out Filipino Rey Perez in his last fight on Feb. 20 in Phoenix, will most likely become the mandatory challenger of Donaire if the Filipino Flash wins his fight against Bedak as Donaire was due for a mandatory title defense by June.

Aldeguer also informed that junior welterweight contender Jason Pagara (37-2-0, 23KO) will also be seeing action on the April 23 card. Pagara's last fight was a second round knockout victory over Santos Benavides of Nicaragua at the StubHub Center in Carson, CA on Oct. 17, 2015.

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