MARK “MAGNIFICO” MAGSAYO settled for a split decision victory over American Rigoberto Hermosillo in a non-title main event featherweight showdown promoted by the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California, on Sunday.
It was Magsayo’s third fight in the US, but the first pay-per-view outing for the pride Tagbiliran City.
Interestingly, the 28-year-old Hermosillo connected more punches (181-136), but two of the three judges saw the 25-year-old undefeated Magsayo making more effective hits in the 10-round bout televised over Fox Sports 1 during the PBC’s Fight Night.
Judge Rudy Baragan scored the fight 100-90 and Zachary Young 96-94 for Magsayo, while Lou Moret saw Hermosillo as the better boxer and gave him a 96-94 score. All three judges are from California.
International matchmaker and Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons said the last-minute change of opponent from a right-hander Jose Haro to a southpaw Hermosillo gave Magsayo some difficult times.
But Magsayo’s determination, hard punches, aggression and a little bit of luck extended his unbeaten run to 21 fights with 14 knockouts.
“It was a good start, it was a tremendous back-and-fourth battle. I think early on he did very well, and then he kind of stopped putting combinations together,” Gibbons told the BusinessMirror. “Mark landed the cleaner and better punches. The other guy just threw a lot [of punches].”
“But at the end of the day, Mark showed he can do better things,” Gibbons added.
Magsayo floored Hermosillo with a short left in the ninth round, but referee Jack Reiss declared it a slip.
Magsayo turned more aggressive in the final round Hermosillo fell to an 11-3-1 win-loss-draw record with eight knockouts.
He never really fought a real aggressive guy who keeps throwing punches even in the 10th round,” Gibbons said.
Freddie Roach, the longtime trainer of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, felt Magsayo fell short of expectations in the fight.
“We have a lot of work to do in the gym,” he told Fox Sports.
Magsayo last fought Thailand’s Panya Uthok in August 31 last year, scoring a unanimous decision victory over.