Notebook: Magsayo ready for clash of styles in first title defense against Vargas

Paul moves on from Fury; Kownacki believes career is on line; Quick hits; Show and tell

Jul 07, 2022

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Mark Magsayo has studied Rey Vargas and he has seen what is obvious, that while Vargas is a quality technical boxer he rarely likes to mix it up.

WBC featherweight titleholder Magsayo prefers to come forward and bang it out with opponents but he has no expectation that former junior featherweight titlist and mandatory challenger Vargas, the taller and longer fighter, will do that at all.

He expects Vargas to employ his usual tactic of boxing and moving while trying to use his height and reach advantages when they square off in the main event of a Showtime tripleheader on Saturday (9 p.m. ET) at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

“I’m facing a fighter who’s usually going backwards,” Magsayo said. “He’s tall, so that’s always his plan. I’m hoping he doesn’t run too much in this fight. If I’m able to get to the right distance with him, I’m going to get the knockout.

“I’m prepared for anything he brings. I’ve gotten great sparring with guys who move, guys who go toe to toe and everything in between. It doesn’t matter how he fights. I’ll be ready for it.”

Magsayo will be making his first defense after scoring an upset majority decision over long-reigning titlist Gary Russell on Jan. 22 in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

Russell was coming off a two-year layoff, came into the fight with a shoulder injury that required post-fight surgery and was dealing with the absence of his father and trainer Gary Russell Sr. from his corner and most of his camp because of serious medical issues that eventually led to his death in May.

Still, Magsayo (24-0, 16 KOs), 27, of the Philippines, fought well against a master boxer in Russell and is confident he can do it again against Vargas (35-0, 22 KOs), 31, of Mexico.

“My footwork is definitely very important in this fight,” Magsayo said. “Just like against Gary Russell Jr., I’m going to have to make adjustments. I’m not expecting him to mix it up with me.

“I’ve already faced the best fighter in the division, and that was Gary Russell Jr. I beat him clearly and I believe that sent a message to the rest of the division. Even before he hurt his shoulder or whatever happened, I was winning the rounds.”

The fight matches two of boxing’s all-time great trainers, who are both Hall of Famers: Magsayo trainer Freddie Roach and Vargas chief second Nacho Beristain.

“I’ve learned so much at the Wild Card Gym with Freddie Roach,” Magsayo said. “I’ve become a much more accurate puncher with a legendary coach like Freddie. It’s a relief to know that they have my back and will be able to get the most out of me as a fighter.”

Vargas has the same respect for Beristain.

“Nacho Beristain, along with my dad, have been with me ever since the start of my professional journey,” Vargas said. “I know Nacho just as well as he knows me. I like to say that he is an ‘old man of the sea’ with all of his life experience. He knows what type of fighter I am, and I know what type of trainer he is. He knows me to perfection after all of these years.”

Vargas returned from a nearly 2½-year layoff due to injury, the coronavirus pandemic and a promotional change, to cruise to a near-shutout of Leonardo Baez in his featherweight debut on the Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant undercard in November to set up the title shot.

“My goal is to dominate this fight and bring the title back to Mexico,” Vargas said. “I fight for my Mexican people and my family, and I work hard every day to make them proud.

“I’m not overconfident, but I know how hard I worked and what I’m capable of. Magsayo will come out strong with lots of energy, but we will counter that. That’s when we’ll tear his head off.”

Paul moves on from Fury

Jake Paul stuck to his word and has moved on from Tommy Fury, who has been unable to iron out his paperwork issues that would allow him to travel from his home country of England to the United States.

“Fury’s received a termination notice. (Paul promotional company) MVP did everything it could 2 help him & team,” Paul posted to social media on Wednesday. “He wasn’t interested & he literally went into hiding. 2nd time in a row he has pulled out. 2nd time in a row I’m going to step up & take on a new opponent on short notice. AUG 6. MSG.”

Paul still intends to fight and while there is no deal done yet the leading candidate to replace Fury is Hasim Rahman Jr. (12-1, 6 KOs), 31, of Las Vegas, multiple sources told Fight Freaks Unite. Rahman, who is the son of former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman Sr., is coming off his first defeat. He suffered a fifth-round knockout against James McKenzie Morrison, the son of the late former heavyweight star Tommy Morrison, on April 29 in Las Vegas.

Paul had set a Wednesday deadline for Fury to get his travel issues in order or he would drop him from their eight-round cruiserweight fight, which was scheduled to headline a Showtime PPV card on Aug. 6 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

After the fight was announced, Fury (8-0, 4 KOs), 23, the half-brother of heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, was due to come face to face with Paul (5-0, 4 KOs), 25, of Cleveland, at a news conference at the Garden on June 30. However, the day before, Fury was not permitted to board his flight from London to New York.

Fury, who had been in the U.S. a month earlier, said in a video on Instagram he did not know what the issue was.

Fury responded to the implosion of the fight in a statement on Wednesday.

“I’m gutted and disappointed in regards to the issues I have faced with entry into the USA,” Fury said. “This is something that myself or my team could have never anticipated happening. This situation has been left with my lawyers as being denied entry to a country is obviously a very serious issue and it needs to subsequently be resolved.

“I am confident this fight will happen when this issue gets resolved and we come to a solution. I want to clarify that I will fight in a neutral country that both parties can enter. This can be any time, any place, any where.”

Fury was supposed to face Paul in December in Tampa but he withdrew claiming a rib injury and chest infection. Paul instead faced former UFC star Tyron Woodley in a short-notice rematch and brutally knocked him out in the sixth round.

Kownacki fights for career

Heavyweight Adam Kownacki believes his career is on the line when he faces Ali Eren Demirezen in a 10-rounder on July 30 (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, Kownacki’s hometown.

“This is the biggest fight of my career,” Kownacki said. “I have to win to stay relevant in the heavyweight division. I’m training hard and I’m ready to win.”

The fight is the co-feature on a tripleheader headlined by former welterweight and junior welterweight titlist Danny Garcia in his junior middleweight debut against Jose Benavidez Jr. with junior welterweight up-and-comer Gary Antuanne Russell taking on former junior lightweight and lightweight titlist Rances Barthelemy in the opener.

Kownacki (20-2, 15 KOs), 33, was seemingly on his way to a title shot when his career nosedived with back-to-back knockout losses to Robert Helenius, a fourth-round stoppage in 2020 and a sixth-round loss this past October in which Kownacki suffered a broken left orbit bone. He is trying to rebound from those defeats against 2016 Turkish Olympian Demirezen (16-1, 12 KOs), 32, who has won five fights in a row.

“Having two kids these last few years has been life changing for me, but I can’t have everything with a cherry on top,” Kownacki said. “I had to make more sacrifices in my life for this training camp to make sure that I stayed focused.

“I never thought I was done after fighting Robert Helenius. My goal is just to always go out there and do my best. My first boxing goal was to win the New York Golden Gloves, and I did that in my first year. My goal, now, is to win the world title, and that’s what I’m working toward. I had a good 20 fights, I hit a bump in the road, but on July 30 I’m coming to get a win and then I’m back on the right track. I want to get a world title shot in the next year or two, and with my team, I know that I can get that done.”

Kownacki said the one area he and trainer Keith Trimble are focusing on in camp is footwork.

“I remember being in camp with Wladimir Klitschko and being amazed by his footwork,” Kownacki said. “I worked on it a lot back then but I got a little bit away from it. For a while, I could go blow for blow and come out on top. The past couple fights didn’t end that way, so we went back to some of our basics. That’s what I have to do to take the next steps.”

Said Trimble: “We just have to get back to working behind the jab and working on the head movement. We can't get lackadaisical. You’re going to see better footwork, better movement and Adam working behind that jab. Adam truly wants to be that first Polish heavyweight world champion. He’s not just doing this for the money. He’s serious about boxing and about his legacy.

“In this sport, you're only as good as your last fight. Everyone wants to dump on you when you take a loss, but we’re just focused on what is in front of us.”

Kownacki was born in Poland and has lived in Brooklyn since he was a child and became a big draw at Barclays Center, where he will be fighting for the 11th time.

“It’s going to be a red and white arena out there to support me,” Kownacki said. “It’s going to be another great night.”

Quick hits

Premier Boxing Champions on Wednesday made official what Fight Freaks Unite previously reported — that lightweight up-and-comer Frank Martin (15-0, 11 KOs), 27, of Indianapolis, will face substitute opponent Jackson Marinez in the 10-rounder opener of the Mark Magsayo-Rey Vargas telecast on Saturday (Showtime, 9 p.m. ET) at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Marinez (19-2, 7 KOs), 31 of the Dominican Republic, replaces former world title challenger Ricardo Nunez (23-3, 21 KOs), 28, of Panama, who was forced out due to visa issues. Although Marinez has not fought in 17 months he could be considered at the same level or a step up from Nunez. In his last fight, Marinez was stopped in the sixth round by former lightweight titlist Richard Commey and in the fight before that lost a heavily disputed decision to Rolando Romero in an August 20202 interim title bout.

Show and tell

After heavyweight champion Tyson Fury knocked out Deontay Wilder in the 11th round in October in their all-time great fight and the consensus 2021 fight of the year to close the book on their historic trilogy, Fury owed a mandatory WBC defense to British countryman and longtime contender Dillian Whyte. In January, Fury co-promoter Frank Warren won the rights to the bout with a record purse bid of $41,025,000. Upset over the purse split, Whyte waited until the last minute to sign his contract, refused to participate in most of the promotion and skipped the kick-off news. He came around during fight week when he and Warren ironed things out with Whyte getting a few concessions. Despite his limited participation, it didn’t matter. The fight — and Fury’s homecoming for his first bout in the United Kingdom since 2018 — captivated the British public and drew a European record boxing crowd of 94,000 to Wembley Stadium in London on April 23. Those on hand and watching on pay-per-view view were treated to a Fury clinic. He handled Whyte with ease, cut him over the right eye in the fourth round and knocked him out with a perfect uppercut in the sixth round. Here is a full ringside ticket to the fight in my collection.

Magsayo photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime; Fury photo: Mikey Williams/Top Rank; Kownacki photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC

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