Vargas gets off deck, beats Magsayo by split decision to win featherweight title

Figueroa overpowers Castro for TKO in 126-pound eliminator; Martin stops Marinez in 10th round of impressive showing

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Rey Vargas claimed a world title in a second weight class and he did it the hard way.

Vargas got off the deck from a ninth-round knockdown to finish the fight and win a split decision over Mark Magsayo to take his WBC featherweight title on Saturday night in the main event of the Premier Boxing Champions tripleheader on Showtime at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

“I’m at a loss of words,” Vargas said through an interpreter. “I worked hard for this. I want to thank God, my family, (Hall of Fame trainer) Nacho (Beristain). The first title I won, I enjoyed it greatly but this one is special. This win is for me. It was a great fight.”

Judges Tim Cheatham and David Sutherland each scored it 115-112 for Vargas while Jesse Reyes surprisingly had it 114-113 for Magsayo, who didn’t even think he won the fight. Fight Freaks Unite also had it 115-112 for Vargas.

“It’s his today,” said Magsayo, the Manny Pacquiao-promoted Filipino, who was making his first title defense after upsetting long-reigning titlist Gary Russell Jr. by majority decision on Jan. 22 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. “No matter what I’ll come back stronger. I’m disappointed but I did my best.

“I applied the pressure and did what we trained for in the gym, but he was taller and he’s the man today.”

Vargas won the WBC junior featherweight title in 2017 and made five defenses before vacating in 2020. But the coronavirus pandemic, injuries and a promotional change led to a nearly 2½-year layoff before he returned in November as a featherweight. In his debut in the division, he easily outpointed Leonard Baez on the Canelo Alvarez-Caleb Plant card to set up a mandatory shot at the 126-pound belt.

Vargas has been very effective through the years at outboxing opponents and engaging as little as possible by using the height and reach advantages he usually enjoys against opponents. But he largely dispensed with that style against Magsayo despite being taller and longer. He spent much of the fight battling at close quarters with the aggressive Magsayo.

While the first couple of rounds appeared very close, Vargas took over after that until running into some late trouble.

Although Magsayo (24-1, 16 KOs), 27, got in a few good left hooks and rocked Vargas with a right hand to the neck area in the fifth round, overall he had a hard time dealing with Vargas’ volume punching.

Vargas (36-0, 22 KOs), 31, of Mexico, suffered a cut by his left eye from an accidental head butt in the seventh round, but it never seemed to concern Vargas or his corner, which did a good job of keeping the blood under control.

After the seventh round, Beristain was very happy with Vargas’ performance to that point, telling him he was dominating the fight. As pleased as Beristain was with his man, Freddie Roach, Magsayo’s Hall of Fame trainer, was equally concerned about his, telling Magsayo after the eighth round, “We need to score points. We need every round, one at a time.”

Magsayo apparently took Roach’s words to heart because he had his best round of the fight in the ninth. He landed combinations and a hard right before nailing Vargas with a straight right hand on the jaw to knock him down with about 30 seconds left in the round.

“It wasn’t that effective but it counts,” Vargas said of the knockdown. “He did get me there. I was in control of the entire fight, except for the ninth when I lost a little control.”

Vargas did not appear to have completely recovered by the 10th round and was unsteady. He hit the canvas again from what referee Jon Schorle ruled a slip, but it was clear he was on rubbery legs. Magsayo, however, never went after Vargas in the 10th round and seemed to let him off the hook.

“When I had him down, the punch was straight,” Magsayo said. “He did his job in the ring, running. That’s OK.”

By the 11th round, Vargas looked like he was fully recovered and snapped Magsayo’s head back with a hard left hand. They closed the fight in exciting fashion in the 12th round as Magsayo stalked Vargas but did not come close to scoring another knockdown.

“It was a good, enjoyable fight. We felt comfortable throughout,” Vargas said. “I was sound technically. We were just going round-by-round and we got the result we expected.”

According to CompuBox statistics, Vargas landed 196 of 687 punches (29 percent) and Magsayo connected on 132 of 451 (29 percent). Vargas outlanded Magsayo 45-13 in body shots.

“I will rest and watch the fight and I’m going to train to fight again and will correct my mistakes for the next time,” Magsayo said. “I did my best and will come back stronger.”

Vargas hopes that he can next land a unification bout in a division that boasts titleholders Emanuel Navarrete (WBO), Josh Warrington (IBF) and Leo Santa Cruz (WBA).

Vargas’ preference is to face fellow PBC fighter Santa Cruz, the most decorated and best known of the titleholders in what would be an all-Mexican fight. However, unless the WBA goes back on its order, Santa Cruz is next obligated to defend against “regular” titleholder Leigh Wood, although there would be nothing preventing Santa Cruz from vacating and facing Vargas in what would still be a major fight even if not a unification bout.

Vargas wasn’t thinking about boxing politics after his big win. He just wants to add more hardware to his collection.

“Now I want the unification bout,” Vargas said. “I want to fight Leo Santa Cruz. We’ve already talked about it with my team.”

Figueroa stops Castro

Former junior featherweight world titlist Brandon Figueroa bounced back from his first defeat to knock out Carlos Castro in the sixth round of a WBC featherweight title elimination bout to set up a probable shot at main event winner Vargas.

Figueroa was pleased to shake off the loss and set himself up for bigger business.

“I’m pretty proud of myself,” Figueroa said. “I know there’s a lot of work ahead of me, especially if I fight the winner of the main event. I have to study my fight and get back to the gym.”

In November, Figueroa dropped a highly competitive majority decision to Stephen Fulton Jr. in a junior featherweight title unification fight that was a strong contender for fight of the year. He made his featherweight debut against Castro, who was also moving up in weight after suffering his first defeat by split decision to former two-division titlist Luis Nery in February.

As expected, Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KOs), 25, of Weslaco, Texas, and Castro (27-2, 12 KOs), 28, of Phoenix, turned in a competitive and action-packed fight, but it was Figueroa, with his relentless attack, who was able to impose himself.

In the third round, Figueroa forced Castro to the ropes and unloaded numerous punches, punctuating the flurry with a right hand that knocked him down. Castro barely beat the count but survived the round in which Figueroa landed 46 of 100 punches, according to CompuBox statistics.

“I know Carlos Castro is a crafty fighter. I had to be patient,” Figueroa said. “I knew how to put the pressure on him. After the barrage of punches, I got tired had to step back a little bit. I knew that he was hurt and I had him on the ropes and I had to put more pressure on him.

“I caught him clean with a good looping left hand and I had him. I just put punches together and I dropped him.”

In the sixth round, Castro forced Figueroa to the ropes and was landing hard shots, but in an instant, Figueroa turned the tables. He spun away and immediately pinned Castro on the ropes. Figueroa unleashed around 15 unanswered punches, landing many clean shots with both hands to the head and body until referee Mark Nelson stepped in to stop it at 2 minutes, 11 seconds.

“Carlos Castro has a lot of heart",” Figueroa said. “He’s a proven fighter in the ring and I knew it would be hard to get him out of here. I hurt him. I was waiting for that shot to the body (and) once I caught him clean I knew he was hurt. I put my punches together again.”

Castro did not complain about the stoppage nor did his corner. At the time of the knockout, Figueroa was ahead on two scorecards, 49-45 and 48-46, and Castro led 48-46 on one card.

According to CompuBox, Figueroa landed 149 of 485 punches (31 percent) and Castro landed 150 of 383 (39 percent).

Martin knocks out Marinez

Fast-rising lightweight Frank Martin scored two knockdowns in an impressive 10th-round knockout of late replacement Jackson Marinez in the telecast opener.

The 10-rounder was contracted at 138 pounds to accommodate Marinez, who took the fight on eight days’ notice when Panama’s Ricardo Nunez was forced out due to visa issues.

Martin (16-0, 12 KOs), 27, a southpaw from Indianapolis, who shares trainer Derrick James with unified welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr. (who is also Martin’s promoter), took the change of opponent in stride and although it took him a few rounds to adjust to Marinez’s style, he was firing on all cylinders by the time he got the knockout.

“I was ready to go the distance whether I got the knockout or not. Me and Derrick James worked hard in the gym,” Martin said. “It was just a matter of me being patient and not being anxious.”

According to CompuBox, Martin landed 160 of 505 punches (32 percent), including 121 of 245 power shots (49 percent), and Marinez landed 106 of 411 blows (26 percent).

“I’m just an accurate puncher,” Martin said when asked about his high connect percentage on his power shots.

Marinez may not have been winning rounds, but he was competitive for the first half of the bout until Martin took over.

He dropped Marinez with a four-punch combination late in the ninth round. Martinez beat the count and the bell then sounded to end the round. But Martin was all over him as the 10th round began. He nailed Marinez with a right hook that sent him into the ropes and then connected with a left that dropped him, causing referee Rafael Ramos to stop the fight at 30 seconds.

“I was on him once I had him hurt,” Martin said. “I was hungry. He was in deep waters so I had to get him out of there.”

Martin had the fight in hand all the way but really turned things up in the final four rounds when he outlanded Marinez 79-49. Martin was ahead 88-82, 88-82 and 87-83 at the time of the knockout.

Now he believes he fits in well in the deep lightweight division that includes top fighters such as undisputed champion Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Ryan Garcia and George Kambosos Jr.

“I’m right there with those (guys). Sit me at the table with them; whenever, I’m ready,” Martin said. “I’m going to sit down with my team and hopefully get something big. At the end of the day we want them all.”

Marinez (19-3, 7 KOs), 31, of the Dominican Republic, lost his third fight in a row and was fighting for the first time since a sixth-round knockout loss to former lightweight titlist Richard Commey in February 2021. But in the second loss in the stretch Marinez dropped a highly controversial decision to Rolando Romero in an interim title bout in August 2020.

“These things happen in boxing, and you just gotta be ready to roll with the punches,” Marinez said. “He had power, and so did I. I felt great and very comfortable inside the ring. It would absolutely have been a different result had I had more than eight days to prepare.

“The knockdown in the ninth changed the tone of the fight. Maybe I could have been more careful.”

Photos: Ryan Hafey/PBC

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