By Norm Frauenheim-
PHOENIX – Jessie Magdaleno jumped onto the ring post and gestured at his waist as if to say he needs a belt.
A world title belt.
His record, at least, says Magdaleno is good fit for at least a shot at one. He ‘s unbeaten. The important O on the right side of his ledger is still there after a seventh round stoppage of Filipino Rey Perez in SoloBoxeo televised bout Saturday night at Celebrity Theatre.
“I want a shot at a world title,’’ Magdaleno (23-0, 17 KOs) said after stopping Perez (20-8, 5 KOs) with a body shot at 2:51 of the seventh round. “I think it’s time.’’
If it is, it’s arrived in part because Magdaleno is going to his future. He has reunited with trainer Joel Diaz and perhaps reunited with goal that a couple years ago appeared to be a good bet.
In the first half of the televised doubleheader, Phoenix featherweight Carlos Castro (15-0, 6 KOs) needed his agile feet, long jab and toughness to win a six-round unanimous decision over rugged Rafael Reyes (6-6, 5 KOs).
Reyes employed every trick in the book – and some not in the book – in an attempt to draw Castro into brawl. Often, he succeeded by holding and landing blows right at the belt line of Castro’s trunks.
The referee never ruled that any punch was a low blow. But in the third and fourth rounds, a few were low enough to slow down Castro, who in the fifth and sixth kept his distance. The crowd booed. But Castro got the last laugh. The last cheer, too. To win, he did what he had to.
Best Of The Undercard
Best of the Undercard
Phoenix light-heavyweight Trevor McCumby entered the ring to Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues. He had Superman’s logo on his socks. He had it all, leaving poor James Freeman with no chance and only Boogie written across the back of his trunks.
Sure enough, it was Boogie down not long after the last lyric in Cash’s memorable song. McCumby (22-0, 17 KOs) walked all over Freeman (9-8, 7 KOs), dropping the Texan to his knees in the first round and stopping him at 1:48 of the second with a right hand followed by a thudding combination.
The Rest
The Rest
Phoenix junior-welterweight Luis Olivares (10-0, 7 KOs) picked up where stable mate McCumby left off, scoring a first-round knockout with a liver shot that dropped Mexican Omar Garcia (4-2-, 1 KO) onto the ring’s apron, where he stayed until the evident pain subsided.
Phoenix super-bantamweight Paul Romero (7-0, 1 KO) entertained the customers in a near-capacity crowd, scoring a unanimous decision over a bloodied Jaime Gutierrez (5-11) of Mexico.
In a back-and-forth battle of Phoenix flyweights, Luis Espinoza (2-0) scored a first-round knockdown and then relied on a punishing body shots that left red welts on Luis Guerrero’s waistline and a loss by unanimous decision on his record (0-2).
A sure sign of a well-matched card is a good swing bout and that’s what the crowd got from Houston super-featherweight Jesse Garcia (2-0, 2 KOs), who was losing when he threw a lightning-bolt of a left for a third-round stoppage of Derick Bartlemay (0-2) of Eugene, Ore.
