WBC featherweight champion Mark Magsayo is looking to get his second marquee win of the year, and put himself in the running for fighter of the year as he faces former 122 lbs. world champion Rey Vargas in a main event of a three-fight Showtime card on Saturday night.
Magsayo wins by will, as his motor, and toughness make him a formidable opponent for any and all, as well as his size and strength. Rey Vargas, on the other hand, is a purist’s delight. A former 122 lbs WBC world champion who made six world title defenses when he was signed by Golden Boy Promotions, has now moved over to the Premier Boxing Champions world of boxing programming, as the Nacho Beristain trained fighter is looking to become a two-division world champion.
The big factor of this fight is Vargas’ legs. He is a tremendous boxer, who loves to keep range and fight from a distance often outpointing his foes, but how will this new weight class and that injury impact Vargas. I often think of Vargas as Ichabod Crane, the protagonist in “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”.
Why?
He is long, awkward and at times fights to neutralize the action not unlike a Crane, when he saw the headless horseman.
If Magsayo wins this, he has a solid argument for being the best guy in the division along with his peers, Emanuel Navarette, and Leigh Wood. If Vargas wins, he slowly cements himself as a modern great Mexican fighter, with a Mexico vs. Mexico clash between and Navarette making a ton of sense.
A major credit to Sean Gibbons on guiding Magsayo’s career to this point.
An absolutely awesome fight.
Even deeper this quite possibly could be the first time we see Freddie Roach and Nacho Beristain in rival corners since Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez IV.
undercard
The co-main event will see the 126 lbs debut of Brandon Figueroa taking on Carlos Castro, in a bout that will set up the next mandatory for the main event. This is Figueroa’s fight to lose, as even though Castro is a supremely talented fighter, Figueroa gave Stephen Fulton hell, in a fight that could have gone either way, and earned my respect as a fan.
I think this bout also serves as a way to preserve the main event as well. If one of the main eventers got injured, got sick or something else happened, Figueroa would be a suitable main eventer. I am all-in on Figueroa as long as his chin holds up, as his relentless style is proven to be very tough to beat at the lower weights. Beyond that, Figueroa will also make for some good fights.
Castro has been a very big supporter of my writing, as he will have to improve upon his last fight a loss to Luis Nery. This is a very sink-or-swim fight for Carlos Castro, who at one point looked to be in position to be groomed for a world title. Boxing is a cold game.
Lightweight Frank Martin has been on everyone’s radar since stopping Jerry Perez, as originally set to face former Gervonta Davis opponent, Ricardo Nunez, but now will face Jackson Marinez. Martin is a guy not unlike Michel Rivera, in which we see a ton of potential and now we just want to see him in the big fights, and see how he handles them. This should serve as a great introduction once again on premium cable, and as he gears up for a big money fight – my guess would be against Isaac Cruz later this year. Marinez has struggled againt this tier of opponent, but having a more notable performance against Rolando Romero makes Marinez more exciting to some.
Martin with a good performance could put himself in the prospect of the year of the year conversation.
On the YouTube portion of the telecast you were going to see the return of Rashidi Ellis, who is no longer with Golden Boy Promotions, facing Alberto Palmetta in a ten-round bout, but Palmetta pulled out last-minute with a back injury.. Ellis, defeated Alexis Rocha and absolutely saw no benefit from the win, just inactivity. As that was a year-and-a-half-ago, given the wealth of riches as Premier Boxing Champions, seemingly has every compelling welterweight, outside of one or two, Ellis should land a big fight, with a big performance.
