Jessie Magdaleno doesn’t merely believe that he can become a two-weight world champion.

The Las Vegas native is confident he can accomplish that feat by beating the best featherweight in boxing. Magdaleno is the number one contender for the WBC 126-pound title owned by Gary Russell Jr., the accomplished, longtime champion Magdaleno wants to challenge later this year or early next year.

“I think it’d be a bad-ass fight,” Magdaleno told BoxingScene.com. “You know, two lefties going at it. Two very strong, fast lefties, very smart guys that are gonna be in the ring. It’s gonna be a chess match, but at the end of the day, I feel like I can overpower Gary Russell. I feel that I have the youth on my side. I feel that I’m a little bit smarter and my defense is a little bit better. And I feel like I pack more punch than he does. Like I’ve said, as long as I’m dedicated to myself and I keep working hard, like I have been, I really don’t think anybody could stop me.”

The 28-year-old Magdaleno must defeat Dominican veteran Yenifel Vicente on Thursday night in Las Vegas to remain in contention for Russell’s title. Magdaleno (27-1, 18 KOs) and Vicente (36-4-2, 28 KOs, 1 NC) will meet in a 10-round, 128-pound main event ESPN will televise as part of a four-fight card from MGM Grand Conference Center (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).

Magdaleno, a former WBO junior featherweight champion, was scheduled to box Namibia’s Sakaria Lukas (23-0, 16 KOs) on the Shakur Stevenson-Miguel Marriaga undercard March 14 at Madison Square Garden’s Hulu Theater in New York. That entire card was canceled the night of March 12 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly three months later, Magdaleno will attempt Thursday night to win a third consecutive fight since Ghana’s Isaac Dogboe knocked him out in the 11th round of their WBO 122-pound championship match in April 2018 in Philadelphia.

Magdaleno feels stronger now that he doesn’t have to make the 122-pound limit anymore. Knowing he might fight Russell (31-1, 18 KOs), Magdaleno paid close attention to the long-reigning champion’s last fight – a 12-round, unanimous-decision victory over Tugstsogt Nyambayar on February 8 at PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

“It was a great fight,” Magdaleno said. “It’s just that, you know, sometimes he looks a bit rusty because of the long layoffs that he has. But, you know, I take nothing from him. He’s a world champion for a reason. He’s been in there with a lot of great guys. And, you know, why not put on a great show with him and fight for the title? But I just think I’m a slight bit better than him, and I know I could pull off the victory.”

Mongolia’s Nyambayar (11-1, 9 KOs) was the mandatory challenger for the 32-year-old Russell’s title, thus Magdaleno might not be Russell’s next opponent, even if he overcomes Vicente. 

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.