Carson, California - Top Rank Jr. featherweight rising star, Jessie Magdaleno switches camps and joins Trainer Manuel Robles in Carson California at The Rock Gym after being trained by Joel Diaz for the past couple of years during Magdaleno's short career. Photo by Mikey Williams.
Magdaleno joins a list of potential world champions under Robles including Oscar Valdez, Jason Quigley, and Vyacheslav Shabranskyy to name a few. Magdaleno's Manager, Frank Espinoza Jr. is excited for the move and looks for his fighter to improve his speed, combinations and footwork with new trainer Manuel Robles.
Magdaleno is the mandatory challenger to current WBO super bantamweight king Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire - who is “in the gym daily, training and his weight is down” according to his wife Rachel Donaire.
Donaire tends to put on several pounds in-between fights forcing him to often reduce 6 pounds on the eve of the official weigh-in.
In an overseas telephone conversation with BoxingScene.com/The Standard, Rachel said they don’t know whether the mandatory title defense against Magdaleno (22-0, 16KOs) will take place in Manila or somewhere else neither do they know whether the fight will take place in September or October.
ABS-CBN’s consultant for sports Peter Musgni told us the tentative dates for the Donaire title defense are September 17 or October 1 and that the fight will be held in Manila should the major sponsor reportedly in negotiations with Top Rank promoter Bob Arum seals a deal.
Donaire is coming off an easy TKO win over former Hungarian Olympian Zsolt Bedak before crowd of 25,000 at the Cebu Sports Center following a brutal encounter against Mexico’s Cesar Juarez, winning a lopsided decision in Puerto Rico after dropping Juarez twice in the 4th round.
