Boxing: Mark Magsayo faces Mexican on Nietes-Sosa card

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino prospect Mark Magsayo will face Mexican boxer Ruben Garcia in his 12-round featherweight bout at the StubHub Center in Carson, California, on September 24.

The 21-year-old Magsayo (14-0, 11 knockouts) will be making his second appearance in the United States, and his first since knocking out Yardley Suarez in October 2015 at the same venue. Magsayo vs Garcia will be the chief supporting bout to the Donnie Nietes-Edgar Sosa main event, which will be Nietes’ first bout since moving up to the 112-pound division.

Magsayo, a native of Tagbilaran City, is coming off a 6-round thriller against former world title challenger Chris Avalos in April, where he rose off the canvas to score a comeback knockout victory. 

After the fight, promoter ALA Boxing and trainer Edito Villamor realized the need to improve on Magsayo’s porous defense.

“He needs to work on his defense…sometimes he’s careless,” says Villamor of the ninth-ranked featherweight by the WBO. “ He throws a lot of punches but he doesn’t look for the punches coming back.”

Unbeaten featherweight Mark Magsayo working punch mitts with @coachala yesterday. He fights 9/24 at StubHub Centef pic.twitter.com/DbqsrK0X14

— Ryan Songalia (@ryansongalia) August 20, 2016

Magsayo, who says he had never been knocked down, is in agreement.

“The defense is very important,” Magsayo says. Just don’t expect Magsayo to change from his attack-first style.

“I’m an action fighter like Manny Pacquiao. When he gets knocked down, he gets up. He fights like a warrior,” Magsayo says.

In Garcia, Magsayo will face an opponent who has gone rounds with fighters with good records.

The 23-year-old Garcia (17-2-1, 7 KOs) lost a decision to unbeaten prospect Rafael Rivera in  October last year and was stopped in the seventh by former IBF bantamweight titleholder Randy Caballero in February. He has since won two fights in the Dominican Republic against limited opposition.

Magsayo is currently in Los Angeles along with Nietes and plus Arthur Villanueva, who faces Juan Jimenez in a rematch of their fight in May when Villanueva got off the deck to knock out Jimenez with an accidental headbutt. The trio began sparring on Wednesday with 4-round sessions under the supervision of Freddie Roach and will do conditioning work with Nick Curson. – Rappler.com

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan.songalia@rappler.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.