Philippines, 04 Apr 2026
  Home >> News

 


BOXERS

CURRENT CHAMPIONS 

FORMER CHAMPIONS   

RATINGS                       

NEWS           

FORUM        

FIGHT GALLERIES        

RING CARD GIRLS        


 
 
News  


Pacquiao's main spar mate Ray Beltran and young star Jessie Magdaleno victorious in Las Vegas


PhilBoxing.com




Las Vegas, Nevada - Top Rank Incorporated and network giant ESPN presented the first offering of Fight Week with a seven bout card at The Mirage Hotel & Casino here at the famous Las Vegas strip.

The show was broadcasted in a special Thursday night edition of the network's Friday Night Fights and featured three exciting bouts for its national viewers.

BELTRAN VS. KIM

The night is headlined by current Manny Pacquiao stable mate and sparring partner Raymundo Beltran who figured in an exciting slugfest against fellow lightweight Ji-Hoon Kim of Goyang City, South Korea.
The two hard nosed fighters exchanged knockdowns in the initial round of their scheduled ten rounder with Kim drawing first blood with a well placed left hook to Beltran's chin.

Beltran who is being coached by Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, then replied with a staggering left hook of his own that floored Kim on the final moments of the round.

The action never stopped from there as both went hard against each other, throwing hurtful punches that aim to knocked the other guy out. Both fighters figured out in closed quarter fighting both in the middle of the ring and in the four corners of the ring. Beltran mixed his attack with mean body shots that halted Kim's fearless aggression, enough to give him an edge on closely contested rounds.

Meantime, Kim also poured his own brand of punishment towards his foe. The South Korean slugger countered with head shots on Beltran who pressured him in the corner posts and the ropes with his attack.

Beltran won the fight and successfully defended his NABF Lightweight belt with a hard earned Unanimous Decision victory. The scores for Beltran were identical marks of 98-92 and a 97-94 tally on another judge.


MAGDALENO VS. ARELLANO

In the co-feature of tonight's TV offering, popular rising star Jessie Magdaleno 12-0 (9 KOs) overwhelmed the tough and game Jonathan Arellano 13-1-1 (3 KOs) in the initial broadcasted fight out of ESPN.



Magdaleno utilized his superior hand speed against his opponent from Ontario, California. Arellano was dropped twice in the scheduled eight round Super Bantamweight fight courtesy of Magdaleno's furious combinations.

But Arellano did not give up, even when he is under his opponent's attack. He cracked his opponent with hard left hooks that halted Magdaleno's advances several times in the fight. The two fighters tested each other's chin with hard punches that landed for both.

Magdaleno earned all three of the judges' approval at ringside with a lopsided Unanimous Decision scores of 80-69 and two cards of 80-70.

The win improved Magdaleno's perfect record to 13 consecutive wins and also gave him the vacant NABO Youth Super Bantamweight title.

GRADNOVICH VS. VILLANUEVA

The night opened with a seven round domination of Russian born fighter, Evgeny Gradovich 14-0 (7 KOs) over William Villanueva 10-4-1 (2 KOs) of Albuquerque, New Mexico.



Gradnovich 26, who is now based out of Oxnard and is train by popular trainer,Robert Garcia, pressed Villanueva from the opening bell with shots to both the head and the body. He floored his opponent in Round 3 via vicious body shot and stunned him again in the 6th with hard combinations.
The bloodied Villanueva bravely put up a fight but was clearly overwhelmed by Gradnovich's assault. Referee Robert Byrd halted the fight for good at the 2:03 mark of the 7th round after witnessing another brutal onslaught by Gradnovich.

OSIOBE VS. ROMAN

Hometown fighter Robert Osiobe 13-5-4 (6 KOs) scored a Split Decision upset of previously unbeaten Lightweight Jose Roman 14-0 (11 KOs) of Garden Grove, California. The slick Osiobe answered Roman's advances with effective counterpunching and ring movement producing a clash of styles between the two fighters.

Roman caught his opponent in the eight and final round which sent Osiobe to the floor. The latter recovered quickly and finished the fight afterwards.

Two judges scored it a close 76-75 for Osiobe while one official had it at 77-74 for Villanueva.

VERDEJO VS. CHAVEZ

Puerto Rican Olympian Felix Verdejo was victorious in his professional debut with a four round UD win over Leonardo Chavez 1-0 (1 KO) of Los Angeles, California.



The 19 year old Super Featherweight was the aggressor in the early stages of the fight and maintained his aggressiveness in the entire four round fight which was also shown live on national television.
Verdejo earned his victory with two dominating scores of 40-36 and a 39-37 mark on another.

GUTIERREZ VS. MALDONADO

In a battle of unbeaten Lightweights, Las Vegas' own Jesus Gutierrez 6-0-0-1 (2 KOs) defeated Mike Maldonado 6-0 (1 KO) of Altus, OK in a six round bout. Gutierrez brought not only a big crowd with him to the venue, but he also had his own band cheering for him throughout his fight.

The Mirage Convention Center was filled with cheers from his fans and loud drum rolls every time he unloads on his foe. The two fought a close four rounder, earning Gutierrez a UD victory with scores of 58-56 and a pair of 59-55 card.
Gutierrez remained unbeaten with a 7-0 record while Maldonado suffered the first loss of his 7 bout career.

KAHN-CLARY VS. GARZA

Toka Kahn-Clary 2-0-0-1 (2 KOs) of Providence, Rhode Island finished the night of fights here at The Mirage Hotel and Casino with a four round UD win over Jesus Garza 2-2-1 of Dallas, Texas. The two fought a hard battle which earned Kahn-Clary the third straight victory of his young career.


You can reach the author at rrmaze24@aol.com.

Photos by Dr Ed de la Vega.


Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rich Mazon .


Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:

  • Taduran Stops Pérez in 7, and “Still” IBF 105 Champion
    By Carlos Costa, , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • Pedro Taduran Scores Sensational Stoppage Over Gustavo PÉRez ÁLvarez in IBF Minimumweight World Championship Main Event
    , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • BROWN STOPS DUCAR TO LAND FIRST PRO TITLES
    , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • Guy Jutras, a gentleman and pilgrim of world boxing, passes away
    By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • GM Joey Antonio keeps Philippine flag alive, posts hard-earned win in Canberra chess meet
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • TWO WORLD TITLE FIGHTS CONFIRMED FOR ‘GLORY IN GIZA’ UNDERCARD
    , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • MANSOUR AND BALLO MAKE WAVES WITH UNPRECEDENTED OPEN WORKOUT ABOARD CITY CRUISES ADMIRAL HORNBLOWER AHEAD OF SD FIGHT NIGHT: FAMILY BUSINESS
    , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • Rookie Kon Knueppel breaks Charlotte Hornets three points record
    By Gabriel F. Cordero, , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • IBA extends its global reach through a strategic partnership with Nomad Fighting premiering at IBA Nomad 14
    , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • GM Laylo leads in Bundesliga 3 and in IIEE chess Olympiad season 8
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Sat, 04 Apr 2026
  • MANNY PACQUIAO PROMOTIONS TADURAN VS. PEREZ WEIGH-IN RESULTS
    , Fri, 03 Apr 2026
  • PLANET ICE FIGHT NIGHT: WEIGH-IN RESULTS AS BROWN AND DUCAR FACE-OFF FOR FINAL TIME
    , Fri, 03 Apr 2026
  • Battle of the Trades Returns for Its 3rd Year April 25 at Torrey Pines Community Resource Center in Las Vegas
    , Fri, 03 Apr 2026
  • Bobby Laing vs. Russ Kimber in intriguing Intra-state match-up between Massachusetts Light Heavyweights on ‘Rumble at the Rink II’
    , Fri, 03 Apr 2026
  • PH chess wizard Jacobb Seda ties for 1st, settles for silver on tiebreaks in Thailand meet
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Fri, 03 Apr 2026
  • Rene “Chulo” Santiago, Masataka Taniguchi Officially Make Weight for Friday’s Unified World Title Clash in Tokyo
    , Thu, 02 Apr 2026
  • Marlon Tapales and Yukinori Oguni Make Weight in Clash of Former World Champions
    , Thu, 02 Apr 2026
  • Taduran in high spirits ahead of title defense in California
    By Carlos Costa, , Thu, 02 Apr 2026
  • Waiting to beat Floyd
    By Joaquin Henson, , Thu, 02 Apr 2026
  • 20th Philippine Xiangqi Open tournament on May 1
    By Marlon Bernardino, , Thu, 02 Apr 2026
  • Can Tapales Overpower Oguni to Increase his Chances of Another World Title Fight?
    By Carlos Costa, , Thu, 02 Apr 2026
  • BROWN-DUCAR PRESS CONFERENCE QUOTES IN FULL: EVERYTHING THAT WAS SAID AHEAD OF FRIDAY'S ALTRINCHAM FIGHT NIGHT
    , Thu, 02 Apr 2026
  • Wise Owl Boxing Makes Headlines Again with Signing of Former World Champion  Julio Cesar “El Rey” Martinez
    , Thu, 02 Apr 2026
  • Santiago-Taniguchi Final Presser
    , Wed, 01 Apr 2026
  • Jimuel in Action on Friday!
    By Carlos Costa, , Wed, 01 Apr 2026




  •  



     
    PhilBoxing.com has been created to support every aspiring
    Filipino boxer and the Philippine boxing scene in general.
    Please send comments to feedback@philboxing.com


    PRIVATE POLICY | LEGAL DISCLAIMER
    developed and maintained by dong secuya
    © 2026 philboxing.com.