MAGSAYO RECALLS HOW HE STARTED IN BOXING
By Dong Secuya
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 13 Apr 2016
CEBU CITY ? Call it destiny but it's kind of uncanny how a moment can change one person's life ? forever.
For 8-year old Jessel, everyday life was carrying a box loaded with ice cream and peddle it to visitors who populate the pristine beaches of Bohol, one of the country's top tourist destinations, or hustle his way to the multitude of people during the island's fiesta celebrations.
Then one day, Jessel, whose full name is Jessel Mark Araula Magsayo, passed by a boxing gym and saw adults as well as young boys busy doing exercises, shadow boxing and sparring. Jessel was so enamored by what he saw that he just stood there motionless, until during a lull, an elderly man approached him to break his reverie.
?What's that? Ice cream??
?Yes sir!?
?Okay, everyone, come here, get your ice cream,? the old man shouted as Jessel's box was emptied.
For the 8 year old boy, he may have found a sure way to quickly sell out his ice cream ? by just coming to the gym everyday. However, he'd got a totally different take on the matter.
?From then on, I decided I will no longer sell ice cream,? Jessel, now known as Mark 'Magnifico' Magsayo, recalled. ?I decided to box.? The gym was the ALA Gym in Bohol and old man was ALA Gym's top honcho himself, Antonio L. Aldeguer.
Magsayo went on to train in the gym religiously where he was able to join amateur tournaments regularly. He went on to bag his first amateur medal in Cagayan de Oro five years later and by the time he turned professional at the age of 18 in 2013, he had amassed four gold medals in national championships and twice adjudged boxer of the year.
Now 20, and 13 professional fights later, Magsayo is in the cusp of his professional career where he is about to make a major leap to being considered a real contender in his division if wins against former world challenger Chris 'Hitman' Avalos of the United States on April 23 at the Cebu City Sports Center on the undercard of the Donaire-Bedak WBO super bantamweight world title bout. Avalos is decidedly more experienced than Magsayo having already fought 30 times winning 26 with 19 stoppages and only four defeats.
?I'm excited about this fight,? Magsayo, whose unblemished 13-0 record capped with 10 knockouts put him as one of the most promising Filipino young guns, told local scribes during dinner Tuesday.
?My dream is to become a world champion and my fight with Avalos is a step in that direction,? Magsayo, far removed from when he had to give up selling ice cream but maybe far closer to what struck him as he stood in that gym for the first time in that fateful day in Bohol twelve years ago, said.
Photo: Mark Magsayo (C) talks to scribes Tuesday night at the Abuhan Tres restaurant at the IT Park in Cebu city.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Dong Secuya.
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