Magdaleno looks to stay undefeated
Jessie Magdaleno isn’t used to being inactive. But sometimes things happen that are out of a person’s control and force a change in plans.
In Magdaleno’s case, his Las Vegas apartment was burglarized three weeks before he was to fight Erik Ruiz on Oct. 25 in Fresno, Calif. Even though Magdaleno wasn’t there at the time, it traumatized him so much that he couldn’t concentrate on his training and pulled out of the fight.
He has since regrouped emotionally and returned to work. The apartment is gone. He has a home in Las Vegas and will fight Ruiz tonight in the eight-round super bantamweight main event of Top Rank’s boxing card at Texas Station.
“I’m in a better neighborhood,” Magdaleno said. “It sucks that it happened. I don’t wish what happened to me upon anybody. But you never feel comfortable again.
“After this fight, we’re putting cameras all around the house.”
Magdaleno (19-0, 15 knockouts) is ranked in the top 10 by three of the sport’s four sanctioning bodies at 122 pounds — the World Boxing Organization has him No. 2 — so he can’t afford to take a backward step as he continues his pursuit of a world title shot.
“Every fight is big,” he said. “My goal hasn’t changed. I said that 2015 was going to be my year, and I’ve used my time away from the ring to regroup and get sharper and stronger.”
Magdaleno, 23, said he’s a different fighter than the one who stopped Carlos Rodriguez in the seventh round Aug. 2 at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.
“I’ve got more power,” he said. “We’ve been working on landing more power shots, and if I’m going to win a world title, I need to be stronger and hit harder.”
Joel Diaz, who trains Magdaleno in Palm Springs, Calif., said his fighter always had natural power and it was just a matter of refining it and using it the right way.
“We’ve worked on his footwork to give him better position to use that power,” Diaz said. “He hits hard naturally, but he didn’t always hit the target when he landed his punches. Now, he’s hitting the target more consistently and with more power.”
Diaz said he also has preached patience to his fighter.
“He’s learned to take his time,” Diaz said. “When he first came to me a couple of years ago, he was always in a rush to knock guys out. We’ve got him fighting more professionally, where he’s patient, breaking down his opponent and then finishing him off.”
Ruiz, a 23-year-old from Oxnard, Calif., who is trained by Robert Garcia, is 13-1 with six knockouts. He last fought July 19, winning a six-round unanimous decision over Jonathan Alcantara.
“We were already training (for Ruiz), so we basically picked up where we left off in the gym,” Magdaleno said. “He’s a tough fighter, but we’re ready for everything.”
The first bell for the card is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. It will be televised by UniMas (Cable 64) on tape delay at 11 p.m.
Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.