Diego Magdaleno ‘ready to rock ‘n’ roll’

It’s time for Diego Magdaleno to get back to work.

The 27-year-old super featherweight from Las Vegas will headline Top Rank’s fight card Nov. 8 in Pharr, Texas, facing Arturo Uruzquita in a scheduled 10-round bout. Magdaleno was last in the ring May 17 when he easily outpointed Oscar Bravo in taking an eight-round unanimous decision at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif.

“It kinda caught me by surprise,” said Magdaleno, who is 26-1 with 10 knockouts, of his latest bout. “From one day to the next, I didn’t know what was going on. I’ve just been in the gym training.

“But I need to get back in the ring. Everything’s good. We’re ready to rock ’n’ roll.”

Magdaleno doesn’t know much about Uruzquita, who is from Mexico City and is 15-6 with six KOs.

“I leave that up to my team to make sure I’m prepared to fight,” Magdaleno said. “I’ve been focusing on what I do, trying to get better.”

Magdaleno is happy with the job trainer Joel Diaz has done with him. He claims he’s a much more effective fighter inside.

“I’m a lot more comfortable working on the inside than I used to be,” he said. “I’m getting in and out better.”

Magdaleno is hoping for another title shot in the first quarter of 2015. In April 2013 in Macau, he lost a 12-round split decision to Rocky Martinez in his attempt to win the World Boxing Organization super featherweight title.

“That’s the plan,” Magdaleno said. “I know (manager) Frank (Espinoza) is working on things. I just have to make sure I keep winning.”

The rest of the Nov. 8 card is still being filled out, but several of Top Rank’s veterans along with a couple of its young fighters will appear. Heavyweight Eric Molina (22-2, 16 KOs) is on the card, scheduled to fight in an eight-round bout, while super bantamweight Chris Avalos (24-2, 18 KOs) will be in a 10-round contest. Both do not have opponents yet. Same for lightweights Luis Castro (5-1, 4 KOs) and Sonny Frederickson (5-0, 5 KOs), as Castro will appear in a six-round contest and Frederickson in a four-rounder against opponents to be determined.

■ HOF CHANGES — The International Boxing Hall of Fame announced some sweeping changes for the criteria used to put people on the ballot for consideration.

The biggest changes are advancing the number of years of the last bout of competition for nominees. The Modern category, which used to be no earlier than 1943 has now been extended to 1989. The Old Timer category, which was no earlier than 1893 is now no later than 1942 and will be divided into two different categories — Early (last bout no earlier than 1893 and Late (last bout no earlier than 1943 and no later than 1988).

Also the Pioneer category (last bout prior to 1892) will change from annual election to once every five years.

“After 25 years of honoring the best in the sport of boxing, the Hall of Fame’s goal is to maintain the process that bestows boxing’s highest honor to those who have excelled in the ‘Sweet science,’” said executive director Ed Brophy.

This year’s ballot has 30 fighters on it in the Modern category, including Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, James “Buddy” McGirt, Nigel Benn, Riddick Bowe, Genaro Hernandez, Michael Moorer, Vinny Pazienza, Fernando Vargas and Meldrick Taylor. Among the holdovers still eligible for consideration are Donald Curry, Prince Naseem Hamed and Wilfredo Vasquez Sr.

Ballots are due by the end of the month. The class of 2015 will be announced in December and the ceremonies are scheduled for the weekend of June 14, 2015 in Canastota, N.Y.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.