Mark Magsayo was magnificent during his super-featherweight debut Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) in Long Beach, California.
The California-based Filipino, who briefly held a world title at featherweight, unleashed a sweeping left hook to knock Mexican Isaac Avelar in the third round.
Referee Ivan Guillermo didn’t even bother to count as soon as Avelar hit the deck as if he had been whacked with a baseball bat.
Nicknamed “Magnifico,” Magsayo raised his record to 25-2 with 17 knockouts and sent a strong message to everyone in the 130-lb division following his savage win that looks like a strong candidate for knockout of the year.
Magsayo, originally from Bohol, held the World Boxing Council featherweight crown but lost it in his first defense to Rey Vargas of Mexico.
Shortly after the Vargas defeat, Magsayo decided to jump up in weight.
With Marvin Somodio, the right-hand man of Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, training Magsayo, things are looking up for the hard-hitting fighter.
Though Avelar managed to recover following the brutal knockout, medical personnel still strapped him on a stretcher and brought to the hospital for precautionary measures.
Magsayo wished his fallen foe a speedy recovery.
