Who wins Figueroa vs Magsayo? Prediction and preview for the full Showtime card

Brandon Figueroa and Mark Magsayo headline a tripleheader this Saturday night on Showtime (9 pm ET), fighting for the interim WBC featherweight title, with the winner right in line for a crack at Rey Vargas’ full title.

Who wins the Figueroa vs Magsayo fight? We’ve got our picks in!

Scott Christ (15-10)

I like this fight, but I strongly favor Figueroa here. Magsayo is definitely dangerous — he can crack and he’s quick, but he’s struggled badly in some of his wins, and Figueroa is better than those guys. I also just don’t think featherweight is going to be where Figueroa starts having trouble taking punches. That’s not to say Magsayo can’t hurt him, but it won’t be because Figueroa is suddenly incapable of taking shots at 126 that he could at 122. It’d be because Magsayo can punch.

I just don’t see Magsayo doing enough here. Figueroa likes to bring the fight and his volume should help him break Magsayo down, which I think will come late in the fight just on gas tank as much as anything. To keep pace and stay in the fight, Magsayo’s going to have to go at a pace he may not like. Figueroa TKO-11

Wil Esco (18-7)

I gotta say, I like Brandon Figueroa in this matchup. If you look at the styles, both fighters like to bang it out a lot, and I think that’s going to favor the bigger, longer Figueroa who should be able to work on the inside and middle ranges. I also think Figueroa is going to prove to be tank-ier than Magsayo, so will be better equipped to deal with the incoming fire.

Ultimately I see this being a pretty fun fight with some back and forth action, but with Figueroa starting to pull away on points down the back stretch. I don’t see a stoppage happening here, so I’m just going to take Figueroa to win on points. Figueroa UD-12

John Hansen (21-4)

One guy is younger, taller, longer, stronger, and has shown more against superior competition. The other guy is Mark Magsayo. I hope Scott is right and we get another fun 2023 fight out of this matchup, but I just don’t think Magsayo is on Figueroa’s level.

I think Figueroa will dictate this fight. If he wants to outbox Magsayo and take it to the cards, I think he’ll earn a clear win that way. And if he’s looking to wrap up a little early to catch a midnight movie or something, I think he can out-slug Magsayo, too. The latter is far riskier. Figueroa UD-12

Patrick Stumberg (18-7)

Well, time to find out if Figueroa’s chin has an expiration weight. Magsayo’s clearly the faster of the two and the bigger one-shot puncher, but he’s had his share of struggles in the pocket wars that Figueroa does best. If “Heartbreaker” is his usual indestructible self, I fully expect a repeat of the Nery fight, IE several rounds of one-sided mauling on “Magnifico’s” part before Figueroa’s body attack closes the physical and technical gaps to make durability the deciding factor.

While Magsayo’s right hand is almost certainly the heaviest shot Figueroa’s yet faced in his career, I’ve seen him walk through cartoonish amounts of violence before and trust him to do it again. He breaks Magsayo down in the last few rounds. Figueroa TKO-10

Quick Picks!

Jarrett Hurd vs Armando Resendiz

• Scott: Hurd TKO-8
• Wil: Hurd UD-10
• John: Hurd TKO-4
• Patrick: Hurd SD-10

Amilcar Vidal vs Elijah Garcia

• Scott: Vidal SD-10
• Wil: Garcia UD-10
• John: Garcia KO-7
• Patrick: Garcia UD-10