Rey Vargas. | Photo from Vargas’s official Facebook page
CEBU CITY, Philippines—A few days after winning the World Boxing Council (WBC) world featherweight title, Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo already has a challenger waiting in line.
Unbeaten Mexican contender Rey Vargas emerged as Magsayo’s mandatory challenger, according to WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman in a report from BoxingScene on Tuesday, January 25, 2022.
In a separate blog article from WBC’s official website, Magsayo and Vargas are pretty much committed for their world title bout that will likely happen this year.
Currently, Vargas, the former WBC super bantamweight champion, is the No. 1 contender in WBC’s featherweight division while he is ranked No. 4 in the World Boxing Organization with Magsayo being the No. 1.
Varhas has an unbeaten record of 35-0 (win-loss) with 22 wins coming by way of knockout.
With the latest development, the possible unification bout between Magsayo and WBO world featherweight champion Emanuel Navarrete will be likely sidelined.
Magsayo is fresh from dethroning longtime champion Gary Russell Jr. via majority decision in Atlantic City, New Jersey on January 22, 2022 (January 23, Manila Time).
The 26-year-old Boholano is also undefeated with 24 wins, 16 by knockouts.
Before Vargas’ name was involved with the WBC world featherweight title, Russell Jr. already announced that he wanted a rematch against Magsayo, believing he defeated the latter despite injuring his right hand during the fight.
READ: Russel wants rematch vs Magsayo
However, it seems that the WBC is heading to the direction to pit Vargas against Magsayo next.
The WBC also reiterated that Magsayo doesn’t have an optional world title defense after signing a contract that inherits the previous champion’s obligation to fight Vargas.
If the bout will be finalized, Vargas is far more dangerous than Russell Jr. on paper.
The 31-year-old Mexican reigned as the WBC world super bantamweight king from 2017 to 2019.
He won the belt by beating Gavin McDonnell in 2017 via majority decision and went on defending the title five times before moving up to the featherweight division.
His last title defense was against former world champion Tomoki Kameda of Japan in 2019, where he won via unanimous decision. After that, Vargas suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for nearly two years.
However, he made a comeback in November 2021 and won against Leonardo Baez in a non-title bout before moving up to the featherweight division.
/bmjo
READ MORE:
Magsayo hits on boxers’ critics in FB post