Andres Cortes and Mark Magsayo both claimed impressive victories at Zuffa Boxing 05 in Las Vegas to set up a possible future clash between the lightweight contenders.
Cortes maintained his unbeaten record with a points victory over Eridson Garcia in the main event, while former featherweight world champion Magsayo announced himself as a title threat in his new weight class with a knockout victory over Feargal McCrory.
The night also saw a huge upset as Tony Hirsch Jr scored a shock win over the hotly-tipped Robert Meriwether III, and there was an early contender for Zuffa Boxing knockout of the year, courtesy of featherweight Alexis De la Cerda.
Las Vegas native Cortes claimed a dominant decision victory in his hometown as he defeated Dominican contender Garcia over 10 rounds.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Mark Magsayo showed his class in his first fight at lightweight as he stopped the brave challenge of Feargal McCrory in the fifth round.
Cortes kept Garcia guessing early by staying at range, then blitzing in with two or three-punch combinations, before sliding back out of range to avoid Garcia’s attempted counters.
Cortes’ approach started to cause problems for Garcia, who was repeatedly warned for holding through Round 3, and between round referee Thomas Taylor warned his corner that a point deduction could follow if he continues to hold.
Andres Cortes claimed a comfortable points victory over Eridson Garcia
And, sure enough, in Round 4 Garcia was hit with a point sanction by the official after again failing to let go on the call of break. It exacerbated things for the Dominican fighter, who was already struggling to keep up with his undefeated opponent.
From the mid-point of the fight, Cortes switched tactics and opted to close the distance, and Garcia seemingly had no answer to Cortes whenever the pair fought on the inside, with the Las Vegas native feasting at close quarters, ripping Garcia to the body and head. By the end of the seventh round, Cortes was exuding the confidence of a man who knew he had his opponent’s number.
Cortes extended his unbeaten professional record to 25-0
That didn’t change through the final three rounds, as Cortes comfortably negotiated the final nine minutes of the fight to claim a runaway decision victory and move to 25-0 for his career.
It also puts Cortes right in the mix as the championship picture in the Zuffa Boxing lightweight division starts to take shape.
Magsayo stops Ireland’s McCrory
In the co-main event, former featherweight world champion Magsayo successfully completed his move up to lightweight with a statement finish of Ireland’s McCrory.
Cheered on by a raucous Filipino following inside the Meta APEX, Magsayo made sure McCrory tasted his power early as he cracked the Irishman with two thumping right hands towards the end of the opening round.
Magsayo was landing at will against his Irish opponent
And, while McCrory gamely looked to step into range to land shots of his own, he struggled to connect with anything meaningful early on as Magsayo eased into the contest.
Magsayo continued to look a class above McCrory through the second and third rounds, and he came close to stopping the Irishman late in the fourth with a series of clean, hard shots that seemed to rock, but not drop, his man.
And, after McCrory’s corner warned him that they would pull him out of the fight if he continued to take damage, the call from head coach Colin Morgan came 21 seconds into the fifth round after Magsayo lit up McCrory with more power shots.
Mark Magsayo stopped Ireland’s Feargal McCrory
It left Magsayo elated as he celebrated a stoppage victory in his first Zuffa Boxing appearance, while McCrory was clearly gutted at his corner’s decision to pull him from the fight.
The most memorable moment of the night came when featherweight De La Cerda produced a stunning one-punch knockout of Ervin Fuller III.
De La Cerda delivered a sledgehammer of a short right hook to send Fuller to the canvas late in the third round.
Elsewhere, Merriweather suffered a surprise first defeat of his professional career as he lost a split decision to Tony Hirsch Jr in their lightweight contest.