Mark Magsayo set for a highly-anticipated boxing return in March

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

After almost one year of hiatus from the sport of boxing, Filipino rising superstar Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo will return to the ring on March 4, 2023 as confirmed by Showtime.

The hard-hitting Filipino pug will look to avenge his first-ever professional loss when he squares off with top prospect Brandon Figueroa for the World Boxing Council (WBC) Interim featherweight belt in his first match back after eight months.

Magsayo was already on the rise after snatching the WBC featherweight belt away from long-time champion Gary Russell Jr. but immediately dropped his first title defense fight against Rey Vargas.

Despite scoring a knockdown in the ninth round to boost his chances of winning, Vargas’ reach advantage pretty much summed up the whole fight as he capitalized on his edge the whole slugfest.

Magsayo then chose to have a long vacation from the sport and has failed to return to the ring since but finally decided to reclaim lost glory when he announced his ring comeback several weeks ago.

Top boxing organization Showtime made everything official after announcing that Magsayo will be facing Figueroa in March to be held at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California.

Like Magsayo, Figueroa only tasted defeat once and has tallied 18 total knockouts out of his 23 total victories.

The 26-year-old American knockout artist is coming off an impressive victory when he took down Carlos Castro in just three rounds last year.

This will be an interesting style clash with Magsayo playing a more patient offense in the first three rounds against a spit-fire Figueroa who loves to bring the action soon as the bell rings.

Can Magsayo endure the young American’s punching power or will he outsmart him just like he did Russell Jr?