Jessie Magdaleno Will Now Fight Rey Perez, Mansito is Out

By Francisco Salazar

Junior featherweight contender Jessie Magdaleno will now fight Rey Perez on Saturday night, manager Frank Espinoza confirmed to Boxingscene.com Monday evening.

Magdaleno was originally scheduled to fight Edward Mansito of the Philippines, but Mansito was not able to secure a visa to enter into the United States.

Perez (20-7, 5 KOs) has not fought since August 1, when he lost a one-sided decision to Chris Avalos.

Magdaleno was scheduled to fight Perez on that August 1 date, but withdrew from the fight when he suffered a hand injury during sparring over a week before the fight.

Magdaleno (22-0, 16 KOs) is ranked amongst the top 10 by all major sanctioning bodies. He is the mandatory challenger to face WBO champion Nonito Donaire.

The Magdaleno-Perez fight is scheduled for 10 rounds and will take place at the Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Ariz. UniMas will televise the fight on Saturday night (11 pm ET/ PT).

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (CA) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing