Rey Vargas boxes past Mark Magsayo to capture WBC world title

The Philippines is left without a single boxing world champion as Mark Magsayo fell short in his first WBC featherweight world title defense following a split decision loss to Rey Vargas this Sunday at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Magsayo did not go guns blazing in the opening round but instead threw and landed calculated right straights that found their mark. Vargas tried to keep Magsayo at bay with his jabs but was getting touched by the Filipino's power shots early in the fight.

Vargas doubled his jabs in round two followed up with left hooks to the body. Magsayo looked sharp, throwing punches to the head and body of the Mexican.

Vargas started to dictate the tempo in round 4 as Magsayo's bursts of energy started to fade. Vargas boxed really well in the following round, all the while avoiding and blocking Magsayo's power shots.

Magsayo looked spent in round six which prompted Vargas to step up his attacks. The Filipino had trouble closing the distance in round 7 which allowed Vargas to keep him at bay with crisp jabs and right straights.

Magsayo caught Vargas with a clean right hand in round 8 that momentarily stunned the latter. In round 9, Magsayo landed a big right hand that sent Vargas for a trip to the canvas.

Vargas landed a clean left hook in round 11 that snapped the head of the Filipino. Magsayo fought with urgency in the twelfth and final round but was getting caught by Vargas' counter punches coming in.

Two judges saw the fight for Vargas after twelve rounds of action, improving his perfect record to 36-0 with 22 knockouts while Magsayo fell to 24-1 with 16 knockouts.

—JMB, GMA News