THERE were no knockouts but American Brandon Figueroa lived up to his moniker as the “Heartbreaker” yesterday (Sunday night in Canada) when he scored a unanimous decision win over Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo in their clash for the interim World Boxing Council featherweight belt at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Canada.
As is his wont, Figueroa was aggressive but started sluggishly before piling up points in the later rounds over Magsayo, who looked spent after needing to be weighed twice to make the 126-pound limit.
Magsayo tipped the scales at 126.8 pounds on his first attempt at the official weigh-in last Saturday.
In an encounter that looked like a wrestling match at times, American referee Thomas Taylor deducted a point from Magsayo for holding, hitting and holding in the eighth and 11th rounds, but it hardly mattered because his foe won decisively.
Figueroa won the nod of all three judges, with Garry Ritter and Fernando Villareal giving him a clearcut 117-109 win while Zachary Young scored it 118-108.
The tall and lean Texan picked up his fourth win in five fights, raising his record to 24 victories, 18 by knockouts, against one loss and one draw while Magsayo absorbed his second straight defeat in 26 fights, with 16 wins by KO.
