Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo and Japanese foe Shota Hayashi strike a pose after yesterday’s official weigh-in of Pinoy Pride 43: Battle in Bohol. With them are (from left) WBO Asia-Pacific boss Leon Panoncillo, boxing judge Edward Ligas, ALA Promotions CEO Michael Aldeguer and GAB’s Mendoza.
Tagbilaran City, Bohol — Fighting in front of his home folks and becoming a world champion have always been Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo’s ultimate dreams as a boxer.
Tonight, the Boholano slugger fulfills one of his dreams as he defends his WBO International featherweight title against Japanese veteran Shota Hayashi in the main event of “Pinoy Pride 43: Battle in Bohol” at the Bohol Wisdom Gymnasium here. If victorious, Magsayo should be well on his way to fulfilling his second goal.
Magsayo faced a highly animated Boholano crowd yesterday at the Island City Mall during official weigh-in along with the rest of the protagonists of the card promoted by ALA Promotions International and ABS-CBN Sports and Action.
The 22-year old Magsayo (17-0-0, 13KOs) tipped the weighing scales at exactly 126lbs, the limit for the featherweight division while Hayashi (30-6-1,18KOs) weighed in at 125lbs to greenlight their 12-round title showdown.
“We’re both sluggers so there’s going to be a knockout but definitely it is not going to be me who will fall to the ground,” said Magsayo of ALA Boxing Gym.
“He loves to come forward based on what I saw in his fight tapes and I love that kind of style because I can set up my combinations very well. Unlike before, I am more patient now. I already learned my lesson when I was knocked down by Cris Avalos in 2015. After that, I became more cautious and technical.”
Magsayo revealed that if he wins, he wants to fight for a title eliminator against Joseph Diaz Jr. of the United States to earn a shot at WBO world featherweight champion Oscar Valdez of Mexico. Magsayo is ranked No. 2 in the WBO featherweight division while Diaz Jr. is the current top contender. “I have to win this fight impressively so that nobody will question my readiness for a world title shot,” added Magsayo.
In the co-main event ‘Prince’ Albert Pagara (28-1-0, 19KOs) and his opponent Mohammed Kambuluta (16-3-0, 6KOs) weighed in at 124.5lbs and 125lbs respectively. They will tangle for 10 rounds in a non-title superbantamweight duel.
Jeo ‘Santino’ Santisima (14-2-0,12KOs) tipped the scales at 123lbs while Indonesian Kichang ‘The Lion from Borneo’ Kim (8-4-1, 2KOs) weighed in at 120lbs for their 10-round, non-title super bantamweight bout.
Aside from the above-mentioned bouts, there are also seven fights in the undercard with the curtain raiser scheduled at 6 p.m.