MAGSAYO FIGHTS BEFORE BOHOLANO CROWD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HIS CAREER
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 08 Nov 2017
ALA Boxing promising boxer Mark "Magnifico" Magsayo is scheduled for a homecoming in Pinoy Pride 43 to be held Tagbilaran, Bohol on November 25. Undefeated in 17 fights in his professional career, the 22-year old Boholano will be fighting in front of his hometown fans for the first time to defend his WBO International featherweight title against Japanese challenger Shota Hayashi. Magsayo came from an explosive first-round demolition of Daniel "El General" Diaz of Nicaragua.
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An impressive win could catapult Magsayo to the WBO featherweight world championship fight with title holder Oscar Valdez. He is ranked number two contender by WBO in the featherweight division, a victory over Hayashi could set a world title fight for Magsayo who must hurdle the Japanese who has won 14 of his last 15 bouts.This will be his second title defense after stopping Chris Avalos to win the crown. He destroyed Tanzanian Issa Nampacheche in only two minutes in his latest match.
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Shota Hayashi was born on November 24, 1987 in Tajimi, Gifu, Japan and is now fighting out of Nagoya, Aichi. He has a record of 30-6-1 with 18 KO wins and 1 KO loss. He is ranked No. 7 featherweight in Japan and No. 44 in the whole world by BoxRec. The 29-year-old orthodox fighter has fought 195 rounds with 49% KO rate. Hayashi will be making his overseas debut. In his last fight, he stopped Filipino Markquil Salvana ( 13-4-0, 7 KOs) of General Santos City in the 4th round.
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Joining Magsayo on the card will be "Prince" Albert Pagara, who faces Tanzanian Mohamed "Chico" Kambaluta in a 10-round junior featherweight contest, while Jeo "Santino" Santisima battles Indonesian Kichan "The Lion from Borneo" Kim, also in a 10-round junior featherweight match. Melvin Jerusalem is fighting to snap his two-bout losing skid against Pedro Taduran of Valenzuela City. Virgel Vitor will take on John Ray Logatiman of Para?aque City.
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WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman was very excited watching WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (39-0, 38 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn making a first round demolition of Bermane Stiverne during their rematch last Saturday. Wilder brutally floored Stiverne three times before the referee stopped further punishment. Sulaiman was so impressed by Wilder's action and likened him to heavyweight greats Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson.
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"I have not seen a heavyweight throw the jab with such sharpness and precision since Larry Holmes," Sulaiman said. "Then came the bomb... and down Stiverne went. Wilder stood on top of him, screaming 'Get up,' which made me remember Muhammad Ali...Stiverne got up and was dropped again and again. A first-round knockout, just like the good old times of Mike Tyson...I saw three elements from legendary Hall of Famers Ali, Holmes, and Tyson, all in one, and the heavyweight division is back."
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Sulaiman says his organization is fully supporting Wilder in his quest to secure a unification bout with Anthony Joshua (20-0, 20 KOs), the WBA, IBF, IBO title holder. "Everything is set for Wilder vs. Joshua. Wilder told me specifically that he wants Joshua next, and he asked the WBC to do whatever it takes to support the making of this fight. Now it is up to the promoters, managers, and TV corporations to make it happen. Both fighters want it, the world wants it, and boxing needs it," Sulaiman said.
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Mike Tyson became the undisputed world heavyweight champion and establishes the record as the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title at 20 years, 4 months and 22 days old. Tyson won all his first 19 professional fights by knockout, 12 of them in the first round. He won the WBC title in 1986 after knocking Trevor Berbick out in two rounds, and annexed the WBA and IBF belts after defeating James Smith and Tony Tucker in 1987.
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Roberto "Hands of Stone" Duran, is favoring Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs) to defeat WBO super featherweight champion Vasyl Lomachenko (9-1, 7 KOs). Duran experienced moving up in weight and familiarized the advantages and the disadvantages of adding more pounds to match bigger opponents. He believes Rigondeaux will be a more potent foe at the heavier weight division. He thinks Rigondeaux will be stronger, faster, and more powerful with the added weight.
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"It's a very good fight, but I'm going with Rigondeaux," said Duran to ESPN Deportes. "Rigo is going to be stronger, he's going to be faster and the punching power is going to increase more." Duran recalls how Rigodeaux beat Nonito Donaire. "He gave Donaire a boxing lesson in the ring. I always remember well what Donaire said, that he was going to give Rigo a boxing lesson. And Rigo said 'you have nothing to teach me, I had 200 fights as an amateur' and the guy gave a boxing lesson to Nonito."
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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