Top Filipino featherweight prospect Mark Magsayo won his first bout in over 13 months, a hard-fought split decision over tough Mexican southpaw Rigoberto Hermosillo Sunday morning (Manila time) at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
Two judges had it 100-90 and 96-94 for Magsayo while the third scored it for Hermosillo 96-94 in the 10-round bout that was the main event of a Premier Boxing Champions Fight Night card.
Hermosillo outlanded Magsayo 181-136 according to the official fight punch statistics and threw more than double the number of punches 856-417, but Magsayo landed the cleaner and more telling blows, including some solid punches in the ninth round that nearly sent the Mexican down. Hermosilla's gloves did touch the mat, but the referee ruled it a slip.
Magsayo (21-0, 14 KOs) was fighting for the first time under the tutelage of Freddie Roach and had been training at the Wild Card Gym since arriving in Los Angeles in July. It was also his first fight since scoring a unanimous decision win over Panya Uthok in Bohol on August 31, 2019.
Hermosillo (11-3, 8 KOs) was a late replacement for American Jose Haro, who pulled out of the bout in early September and retired. But the Mexican troubled Magsayo early on and was the more active fighter as the Filipino couldn't get untracked.
Magsayo started attacking Hermosillo's body in the later rounds, and the momentum slowly shifted. Still, Roach urged Magsayo to give it his all before the 10th round, and he delivered.
"I'd like to thank Coach Freddie for teaching me in our training camp. It was a great opportunity for me," Magsayo said after the bout.
Roach thought his ward wasn't active enough, but did enough to win.
"He's one of the best punchers in the gym," said Roach. "He knocks people down all the time. But he just wasn't letting his hands go tonight. I kept urging him to deliver more volume, more combinations, and more power. He came in a little bit out of timing but he did enough to win the fight."
Magsayo is currently ranked fourth by the IBF and WBC in the featherweight division, and had previously talked about challenging WBC champion Gary Russell, Jr. But Roach wants to put in a little more work before taking on such an opponent.
"Gary Russell, I'd love to fight him," Roach said. "But the thing is, we need a lot more work in the gym. We've been working together for a while now, but we need some more time and we need to connect a little bit better. He wasn't following my lead as much as I wanted him to."