Magsayo vs Vargas: Brandon Figueroa vs Carlos Castro, Frank Martin vs Ricardo Nunez join Showtime card

Showtime’s July 9th Mark Magsayo vs Rey Vargas show at the Alamodome has become a good-looking tripleheader.

Brandon Figueroa takes on Carlos Castro in the featherweight co-feature, while Frank Martin meets Ricardo Nunez in the main card opener.

Both Figueroa (22-1-1, 17 KO) and Castro (27-1, 12 KO) are coming off of narrow defeats, Figueroa in a razor-thin title unification against Stephen Fulton and Castro in a February battle with Luis Nery that would have been a split draw but for the point Castro lost from a first-round knockdown. This one will be at 126, and if the press release is to be believed, it’ll also be a WBC title eliminator.

Which is weird, because Joet Gonzalez vs Isaac Dogboe was also listed as a WBC title eliminator. I’m assuming the Gonzalez-Dogboe one may have been mislabeled, as the two are ranked No. 1 and No. 2 with the WBO.

Whatever the stakes, Figueroa’s always fun and won’t lack for size at 126, though I have to question the wisdom of throwing Castro right back into the fire after a loss that was closer on the scorecards than in reality.

Martin (15-0, 11 KO) and Nunez (23-3, 21 KO) were supposed to square off on the Charlo-Sulecki card last weekend, but got transplanted when Charlo hurt his back. Martin’s a solid operator at 135 who blasted Romero Duno out in four rounds last January and Nunez’s only loss since 2015 came against Gervonta Davis.

The undercard, which will stream on Showtime’s YouTube channel, features the return of Rashidi Ellis (23-0, 14 KO) opposite Alberto Palmetta (17-1, 12 KO) and local boy Ramon Cardenas (20-1, 10 KO) against Michell Banquez (20-1, 14 KO).