By Steve Kim

Heading into what is his sixth year as a pro, junior featherweight Jessie Magdaleno - who faces Rey Perez this weekend from the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona - admits that he should be further along in his career.

"Last year was a year I slacked off, I felt like I should've been fighting (Nonito) Donaire or I should've fought for the title last year,"said Magdaleno, who sports a record of 22-0(16 KO's) and is rated number one in the WBO( who's titlist is 'the Filipino Flash')"But the lack of fighting and having problems back at home that's what led me to extend to where I'm at today but I feel like I should be further up then where I am now."

One issue is that Magdaleno has consistently failed to make weight and in his last outing back in October he came in at 127.5 pounds - a pound-and-a-half over the featherweight limit. This has concerned the brass at Top Rank and his own management. The 24-year old southpaw admitted,"I'm my own worst enemy."

This Saturday night's bout against Rey Perez is the main event on the 'Solo Boxeo' series on UniMas. After this, Magdaleno has his eyes on the big names at junior featherweight like Donaire, Scott Quigg and Carl Frampton.

"Like I tell a lot of people - I can blow out 122. I know I can. There's a lot of top talent at this weight class but I feel I'm up there, as well with them and I can do more than what they can."

Steve Kim is the news editor for BoxingScene.com