Younger Magdaleno not seeking KOs

With just four professional fights on his boxing resume, Jesse Magdaleno admits he has a lot to learn.

The 19-year-old received a valuable lesson in his last fight: No matter how hard you try to knock someone out, sometimes he refuses to cooperate.

Jonathan Alcantara was stubborn, as he didn't go down despite Magdaleno hitting him with good punches for six rounds May 6 at Mandalay Bay. So when Magdaleno returns to the ring Friday at Texas Station to face Esteban Nichol in a six-round super bantamweight bout, the Durango High School graduate will remember what happened in his last fight and not worry about scoring a knockout.

"I learned so much from that fight," said Magdaleno (4-0, three KOs), whose bout with Nichol is part of the undercard that supports 24-year-old brother Diego's NABF super featherweight title defense against Alejandro Perez in the main event. "I was catching that guy with shots, but he had a hard head; he wouldn't go down. But I didn't get frustrated, and that was important for me.

"You don't want to focus so much on knocking the other guy out that you leave yourself open to get hit."

It was Magdaleno's first time going six rounds and also the first time one of his fights went the distance.

"Being pushed like that was a great experience," he said. "I had to dig down a little, and it showed me that not every fight's going to be easy. It has made me work harder in the gym and tighten up my defense."

Augie Sanchez, who along with Pat Barry trains Magdaleno, said the Alcantara fight can only help.

"It was an eye-opener for Jesse," Sanchez said. "You can't knock out everyone. He had to adjust during the fight and box the guy more, and it was a good lesson learned.

"He saw how tough it was, and he's stepped up his discipline and commitment."

Magdaleno, a former national Golden Gloves champion at bantamweight, was planning to fight at featherweight as a pro. But he is making weight as a super bantamweight and said he plans to stay at 122 pounds for the foreseeable future.

"It's not hard at all," he said of making weight. "I'm eating what I want, and I'm very comfortable at 122. I can fight at 126, but I'm going to be at 122 for a while."

Said Sanchez: "If he can still make 122, why rush him to 126?"

In the 26-year-old Nichol, who fights out of Denver, Magdaleno faces his toughest test as a professional. Like Magdaleno, Nichol is undefeated (3-0, one KO) and has a good chin.

"He's supposed to be a good fighter," Magdaleno said. "But my plan is to stay busy, throw punches, be smart and outbox him and win the fight.

"I'm not worried about knockouts."

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