Suarez, Magsayo Reliving High Point in PH Boxing at Super Featherweights
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 02 Sep 2025
Perhaps unaware of it, Charly Suarez and Mark Magsayo are reliving a high point in Philippine boxing at the super featherweight class, where not one but two Filipino fighters are competing at a world-championship, or at least world-class, level.
Suarez was seemingly "cheated" out of an outright TKO victory and a world championship following a controversial title fight against Mexican champion Emanuel Navarrete. He "lost" the bout by a technical decision, but the result was later overturned to a no-contest. He therefore remains undefeated and has maintained his top rating while awaiting an immediate title rematch as ordered by the WBO.
On the other hand, Magsayo is slated to battle against Italy's Michael Magnesi in a WBC world title eliminator in October. The fight is one of the main event attractions of the 50th-anniversary commemoration of the famed "Thrilla in Manila." Magsayo is rated No. 1 at super featherweight in the latest WBC rankings after a string of impressive wins in the United States.
The super featherweight division, then known as junior lightweight with a maximum weight limit of 130 lbs., has provided the Philippines with many of its world boxing champions, dating back to the era of the great Gabriel "Flash" Elorde in the 1960s. Since then, not just one, but two Filipino fighters have emerged simultaneously or one after the other in the division to become world champions or at least title challengers.
This was the case with Rene Barrientos, who came after Elorde and carried the mantle. Barrientos had earlier fought and lost to Elorde in an OPBF lightweight title challenge and to Elorde's conqueror, Yoshiaki Numata, in a failed world title bid. He was held to a draw by subsequent world champion Hiroshi Kobayashi in Japan. Barrientos eventually became a world champion by defeating American Ruben Navarro for the vacant WBC title in the late '60s.
In the '70s, the Igorot warrior Rey Tam and Hawaii-based Ben Villaflor emerged, but only Villaflor became a world champion, establishing two reigns, first with the WBC and then with the WBA. Tam had the misfortune of emerging during the reign of Alexis Arguello, the explosive Nicaraguan "Thin Man."
In the '80s, we had Rolando Navarrete and Johnny Sato, but only Navarrete went on to advance to a world championship after beating Sato, among others, on the U.S. fight circuit. Coming in as a late sub, Navarrete stopped Cornelius Boza Edwards to wrest the WBC crown in 1981. But "Lando" lost the title in his second defense to Mexico's Rafael Limon in 1982. Another Filipino fighter emerged after Navarrete in the person of Rod Sequenan, but Sequenan fell short in his quest for the inaugural IBF super featherweight title, dropping a split decision to Hwang Kil Yuh in South Korea in 1983. This period also saw the emergence of boxing greats Julio César Chávez and Hector Camacho, along with the Australian pair of Lester Ellis and Barry Michael, who would contend for the then-lesser IBF belt.
The trend did not continue in the '90s with Jeff Fenech, Azumah Nelson, and Brian Mitchell ruling the division. The Philippines was then thrilled by the boxing feats of Luisito Espinosa, who rose from flyweight to become a world champion in the bantamweight and featherweight divisions—a sort of precursor to better things to come for Philippine boxing with the emergence of Manny Pacquiao. By the mid to late '90s, a very young Pacquiao was still a light flyweight and flyweight. Who could have imagined that ten years later, he would be fighting as a super featherweight?
The Pacquiao brothers, Manny and Bobby, were the last great tandem to campaign simultaneously at a world level in the super featherweight division. But only Manny would be successful, winning the fourth of his world-record eight-division championships at 130 lbs. by beating arch-nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez in 2008. Bobby would win the WBC Continental Americas title by knocking out Carlos Navarro, Jr. and defended it once against Kevin Kelly. However, he would later lose the belt after coming in three pounds overweight against Hector Velasquez, a former KO victim of his brother.
And now we have the magnificent duo of Charly Suarez and Mark Magsayo. How far can they reach in their quest for the world championship?
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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