Though Mark Magsayo is from Tagbilaran City, Bohol, Philippines, he now resides in the Los Angeles, California area, and has trained in the area for some time. On March 4th, the former WBC featherweight world champion, Magsayo will face Brandon Figueroa for the WBC interim featherweight world title, at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, California, which will be broadcast worldwide by Showtime Championship Boxing.

“It’s going to be a great night. Southern California has amazing fight fans. We’re both exciting fighters and everyone knows that they’re going to want to be at the edge of their seats for this one,” said Magsayo on Wednesday’s media call via Zoom. “I’ve been training since October for this fight and it’s been great. I’ve been doing a lot of rounds in sparring. This is going to be a great fight.”

His upcoming bout will see a battle of former world champions as he takes on Brandon Figueroa at his new weight class of featherweight, as Magsayo hopes to give him a rude welcome to the division.

“I guarantee that this is going to be a great fight. [Brandon] Figueroa is strong and always comes forward, but I’m strong too and that’s going to make this fight one you don’t want to miss,” said Magsayo. “I want to thank Freddie Roach for everything I learned from him. Now having Marvin Somodio as my trainer. He is a great trainer and we understand each other.”

Magsayo, who is now as he stated above working with Marvin Somodio appears to be prepping for an all-action night of fights and though one of the nicest people outside of the ring, Magsayo might be one of the toughest inside the ring. As this nearly 50-50 fight is one that surely many fight fans have circled on the calendar already. It is the type of fight where any little thing could give a fighter the edge, and one thing that could sway the fight is the large support for Magsayo from the Filipino community in Las Angles, California. Magsayo was also quick to remind everyone, he is working on things in camp as well.

“I’ve been smarter in training and paying more attention to the details. I’m going to add more defense and make sure that I’m always training smartly. I almost won that last fight, so there are just small adjustments that needed to be made,” said Magsayo when speaking to adjustments made from his previous loss to Rey Vargas last summer. “I learned from my last fight that I needed to adjust for a fighter with a reach advantage like Rey Vargas. I really thought I won the fight, but I respect the judges. I’m coming to use my power and damage and hit Figueroa hard.”

Last year, Mark Magsayo upset long-reigning world champion, Gary Russell Jr., to win the WBC super featherweight world title. As stated prior in his first defense of the belt, he lost it via a split decision to Rey Vargas. His opponent Brandon Figueroa lost a close fight to Stephen Fulton Jr., to conclude his 2021, and then followed that with a stoppage win over Carlos Castro in his last fight which was in July of 2022.

The bout will create the mandatory for WBC featherweight champion Rey Vargas, who lost this weekend and as Vargas tried to become the super featherweight world title. The winner of this fight will be Vargas’ next fight if he wishes to keep his WBC featherweight title. For Magsayo, he hopes to rematch the only man who beat him.

“If I get the opportunity to fight Vargas again, and I win on March 4, I’ll be ready. If he wants to come back down in weight, I’ll jump at the opportunity to fight him,” furthered Magsayo.

This will create a big-time contender in the featherweight division, a division that seemingly is waiting on Robeisy Ramirez to take it over in the not-so-distant future.

To get tickets for this card, visit ticketmaster.com.