FIGHTING Chris Avalos was a huge gamble but it paid off big time for unbeaten prospect Mark Magsayo.
ALA Promotions took a huge gamble and pitted Magsayo, a young raw talent, against an experienced warrior in Avalos.
Magsayo, however, lived up to his hype and destroyed Avalos, a former world title challenger, in six rounds last Saturday night in one of the featured fights of The Time Has Come: Donaire vs. Bedak at the Cebu City Sports Center.
?It was a spectacular fight. But he still has a lot to learn. The important thing is we achieved our objective,? said ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer.
Though his win was impressive, Aldeguer believes that the 20-year-old Magsayo still has a few flaws that need correction.
Aldeguer pointed out that instead of clinching and backpedaling, a dazed Magsayo chose to slug it out after getting knocked down with left hook to the head in the third round. His strategy, however, paid off as he punished Avalos with some vicious punches in the fifth round.
Magsayo finally knocked down Avalos with a series of punches and finished him of later in that round with a flurry of heavy shots.
What Magsayo proved in this fight, according to Aldeguer, is that he has two characteristics of a great fighter ? heart and aggressiveness.
?We saw his heart and aggressiveness put together. He made that decision because he felt that he had to come back. It was more about dedication and how badly he wanted to win the fight. The chin and the heart are there,? said Aldeguer.
Magsayo won?t be seeing action in San Francisco in July but he will be included in the huge show by ALA Promotions and Zanfer Promotions at the StubHub Center in Carson, California in September, which will be headlined by Donnie Nietes.
