LOS ANGELES —
Manny Pacquiao’s
comeback at 46 is music to the ears of fellow
Filipino Mark Magsayo, as the former WBC featherweight titleholder gets to train alongside his idol and fight on his promoter’s undercard once again Saturday at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
While Pacquiao prepares to take on WBC welterweight champion
Mario Barrios, Magsayo (27-2, 18 KOs) has been in camp with him, focusing on Jorge Mata Cuellar (21-2-2, 13 KOs) for a 10-round junior lightweight fight during the non-PPV portion of the three-fight PBC on Prime Video broadcast.
“I feel stronger than I have been in my last fights,” Magsayo told
The Ring following a recent workout at the Wild Card gym. “I was fighting at 126 pounds for 10 years. I feel comfortable at 130 pounds now. I am ready to fight."
Magsayo was featured on Pacquiao’s undercard the last time the Hall of Famer graced the ring in a loss to
Yordenis Ugas in 2021. Magsayo had a better night than Pacquiao, knocking out Julio Ceja in the 10th round while down on all of the cards.
Magsayo leveraged the win to beat Gary Allen Russell Jr. via majority decision in January 2022, only to lose the title next time out via split decision against Rey Vargas six months later. A unanimous-decision loss to Brandon Figueroa followed in March 2023, forcing the 30-year-old to re-evaluate his career.
Magsayo is riding a three-fight winning streak against inferior opposition and is rated No. 2 by the WBC at 130. He might need to land a pair of victories to get a crack at the winner of the fight between the WBC junior lightweight champion
O'Shaquie Foster and pending challenger Stephen Fulton, which
PBC is planning to stage sometime this year. According to The Ring's Mike Coppinger on Monday, however, the
status of Foster-Fulton is in question. “I’ll fight anybody in my division,” said Magsayo. “Whichever champion is willing to step up to the plate. Whoever my promoter says is available, I’ll be ready for them.”
Before the matchup against Mata Cuellar materialized, the WBC had ordered a title eliminator between Magsayo and Eduardo “Rocky” Hernandez earlier this year, but the latter has been dealing with an eye issue that stalled negotiations. If Hernandez is not healthy, next in line for Magsayo in the title elimination ladder would be No. 3 contender Michael Magnesi.
“I'm going to win this fight by knockout and chase the winner of Foster and Fulton,” said Magsayo. “This is my steppingstone to the next level. I need to win this fight. The next fight I’m looking for is a world title fight.”
Manouk Akopyan is The Ring’s lead writer. Follow him on X and Instagram: @ManoukAkopyan