Rey Vargas defeats Mark Magsayo – Boxing Results

Rey Vargas defeats Mark Magsayo - Boxing Results
By Will Arons - 07/10/2022 - Comments

Rey Vargas (36-0, 22 KOs) outboxed WBC featherweight champion Mark Magsayo (24-1, 16 KOs) to win a decisive 12-round split decision on Saturday night to become the new champion at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

In the ninth round, Magsayo landed a beautiful right hand to the head of Vargas that put him down on the canvas.

However, when Vargas got back up, he evaded Magsayo for the remainder of the round by retreating rapidly, changing directions, and not allowing him to finish the job.

The foot speed and mobility that Vargas showed were second to none in the 126-lb division, and you can’t fault Magsayo for not cutting the ring off on him tonight. It would have taken a special fighter to catch up to Vargas.

If Magsayo wants to avenge his loss to Vargas, he’ll need to figure out a way to cut off the ring better to get to him because he was coming up empty repeatedly tonight. The lanky 5’10 1/2″ Vargas had too much height, reach, and foot speed. Normally, shorter fighters have better foot speed, but not in this case.

Magsayo came into tonight’s right riding high on his recent dethroning of long-standing WBC 126-lb champion Gary Russell Jr last January, but his 15 minutes of fame ended on Saturday night with the talented former WBC super bantamweight champion Rey Vargas using moving, jabs and a powerful uppercut to win an entertaining fight on Showtime.

The judges’ scores:

  • 115-112 – Vargas
  • 115-112 – Vargas
  • 114-113 – Magsayo

Magsayo dropped Vargas in round nine, but Vargas was far busier throughout the bout. Scores were 115-112, 115-112 Vargas, 114-113 Magsayo.

Vargas didn’t allow Magsayo to use his superior power to unload on him as he’d done in his last fight against an injured 34-year-old Gary Russell Jr, who hadn’t fought in two years leading up to that fight.

“No matter what, I’ll come back stronger,” Magsayo said after the fight when interviewed by Showtime. “I did my best. He was doing too much running.

“I applied what I was trained in the gym, but he was taller. I’m going to watch the fight again, train and correct my mistakes in the next fight. To my fans in the Philippines, I did my best. I’m sorry. I’ll come back stronger.”

“I have no words to describe what happened here tonight. This is my second title. This one is going back to Mexico,” said Rey Vargas after the contest.

“I want to thank my family, I want to thank Nacho [Beristain], my father, and everybody involved in this victory. It was a great fight. My father was full of emotions, and was emotional when he spoke to me today,” said Vargas.

“It wasn’t that effective but it counts. He did get me there. He got me with that one,” said Vargas about being dropped in the ninth round by Magsayo after he nailed him with a hard right to the head.

“Yes, of course, I’d been in control the whole fight,” said Vargas when asked if he felt he was in control of the whole fight with Magsayo. “Although in the ninth, because he got me there, that’s when I lost some control.

“A unification but I do what Leo Santa Cruz in my next fight. That’s been talked about,” said Vargas. “It was a head-butt, and everything was controlled in the corner,” said Vargas about his injured eye.

In the chief support bout, former super bantamweight champion Brandon Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KOs), making his first fight at 126, defeated Carlos Castro (27-2, 12 KOs) by a sixth-round knockout in a WBC featherweight title eliminator.

 

Figueroa landed a nice shot in the sixth round that hurt Castro. A follow-up barrage of punches from Figueroa resulted in the referee stepping in to stop the contest with Castro still on his feet against the ropes. The time of the stoppage was at 2:11 of the sixth.

Castro was dropped earlier in the fight in the third round after getting nailed by a big shot from Figueroa.

In other action on the undercard, lightweight fringe contender Frank Martin (16-0, 12 KOs) stopped Jackson Martinez (19-3, 7 KOs) in the tenth round in a fight that was competitive throughout.

Marinez gave Martin a lot to think about in the fight until getting dropped in the ninth round and put down a second time in the tenth. The time of the stoppage was at 0:30 of round ten.

Undefeated welterweight Rashidi Ellis (24-0, 14 KOs) destroyed Jose Marrufo (13-11-2, 1 KO) by a first-round knockout. Ellis, 29, knocked Marrufo down twice in the first to get the stoppage win.

Bantamweight prospect Ramon Cardenas (21-1, 10 KO) outboxed Michell Banquez (20-2, 14 KOs) in winning a 10-round unanimous decision. The judges scored it 97-93, 97-93, and 96-94.