Rey Vargas is the new WBC featherweight champion.
Vargas topped Mark Magsayo via split decision this past weekend. The bout aired live on Showtime from The Alamodome in San Antonio.
“I’m at a loss of words,” said an emotional Vargas post-fight. “I worked hard for this. I want to thank God, my family, my trainer Nacho Beristain. The first title I won, I enjoyed it greatly, but this one is special. This win is for me.”
The battle of unbeatens was a fast-paced affair throughout, with both men holding momentum at different moments but never giving in to their determined opponent. Despite his height and reach advantage, Vargas (36-0, 22 KOs) was prepared to go toe-to-toe with the hard-charging Magsayo (24-1, 16 KOs) and was able to use his superior activity to edge the decision on the judges’ cards with two scores of 115-112 against a 114-113 score for Magsayo.
“It’s his today, no matter what, I’ll come back stronger, I’m disappointed but I did my best,” said Magsayo.
In the co-main event, hard-hitting former world champion Brandon “The Heartbreaker” Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KOs) returned to the win column with a dominant sixth round TKO of Carlos Castro (27-2, 12 KOs) in their WBC Featherweight Title Eliminator.
“I know Carlos Casto is a crafty fighter,” said Figueroa. “I had to be patient. I knew how to put the pressure on him, after the barrage of punches, I got tired and had to step back. I knew he was hurt. and I had him, 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 telecast opener, unbeaten rising star Frank Martin (16-0, 12 KOs) showed the full complement of skills that has made him one of the most talked about up-and-comers in the 135-pound division, as he delivered a methodical destruction on his way to stopping Jackson Mariñez (19-3, 7 KOs) in the 10th and final round.
