Andres Cortes and Mark Magsayo both scored 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 win over Eridson Garcia in the main event, while former world featherweight champion Magsayo announced himself as a title threat in his new weight class with a knockout win over Feargal McCrory.
The night also saw a major upset when Tony Hirsch Jr. scored a shock win over the hotly tipped Robert Meriwether III and there was an early contender for knockout of the year in Zuffa Boxing thanks to featherweight Alexis De la Cerda.
Las Vegas native Cortes claimed a dominant decision victory in his hometown as he defeated Dominican competitor Garcia over 10 rounds.
Cortes kept Garcia guessing early by staying in range, then blowing in with two- or three-punch combinations before slipping back out of range to avoid Garcia’s counter attempts.
Cortes’ approach began to cause problems for Garcia who was repeatedly warned to hold throughout the 3rd round and between rounds referee Thomas Taylor warned his corner that a point draw 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 penalty by the official after again failing to let go of the call of break. That made matters worse for the Dominican fighter, who was already struggling to keep up with his undefeated opponent.
From the middle of the fight, Cortes switched tactics and opted to close the distance, and Garcia seemingly had no answer for Cortes when the pair battled on the inside, with the Las Vegas native feasting in close quarters and tearing Garcia to the body and head. By the end of the seventh round, Cortes exuded the confidence of a man who knew he had his opponent’s number.
Cortes extended his undefeated 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 win and move to 25-0 for his career.
It also puts Cortes squarely in the mix as the championship picture in Zuffa Boxing’s lightweight division begins to take shape.
Magsayo stops the Irish McCrory
In the co-main event, former world featherweight champion Magsayo successfully completed his move up to lightweight with a statement finish of Ireland’s McCrory.
Buoyed on by a rampaging Filipino trailing inside Meta APEX, Magsayo made sure McCrory tasted his power early as he floored the Irishman with two pounding right hands towards the end of the opening round.
Magsayo landed 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 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 shake, but not drop, his man.
And after McCrory’s corner warned him they would pull him out of the fight if he continued to get hurt, the call from head trainer Colin Morgan came 21 seconds into the fifth round after Magsayo lit McCrory up with several power shots.
Mark Magsayo stopped Ireland’s Feargal McCrory
That left Magsayo elated as he celebrated a stoppage win in his first Zuffa Boxing appearance, while McCrory was clearly shaken by his corner’s decision to pull him from the bout.
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 with a short right hook to send Fuller to the canvas late in the third round.
Elsewhere, Merriweather suffered a surprising first defeat of his professional career when he lost a split decision to Tony Hirsch Jr. in their lightweight competition.