By REYNALD MAGALLON
Mark Magsayo used his ring savvy to the max and wore down Mexican Eduardo Ramirez for a convincing unanimous decision win in their 10-round World Boxing Association (WBA) super featherweight bout at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Sunday, June 16 (Manila time).
So dominant was the former world featherweight champion that all of three judges scoring a lopsided count in his favor, with two having identical 97-92 tallies on the scorecards while the other had a 99-90 result to wrest the vacant WBA Inter-Continental super featherweight belt.
Fighting for only his second match in the 130 lbs division since moving up from the featherweight class, the 28-year-old pug out of Tagbilaran City came through with rapid-fire punches — his wicked right straight sent Ramirez down for the count in the third frame.
The 36-year-old Mexican southpaw did beat the count and tried to press the fight on Magsayo in the next few rounds in an effort to make up for the earlier knock down but he was held back and punished by a slew of whistling body shots from the Filipino.
Magsayo improved to a 26-2 record with 17 knockouts after the victory which should also allow him to move further up the WBA super featherweight rankings where he currently sits at the sixth spot.
Ramirez, on the other hand, fell to a 28-4 (13 KOs) slate.
“It’s a great fight for me. Eduardo is a good fighter,” said Magsayo whose body shots obviously had taken the wind out of Ramirez midway through the contest.
Ramirez tried his best to put up a fight in the eighth and ninth round but he was visibly overwhelmed by the punishment from Magsayo.
He even tumbled out of exhaustion in the 10th and stayed on the canvas flat on his back before he was forced to stand up and finish the fight.
