Andres Cortes Outpoints Mark Magsayo in a Knockdown-That-Wasn't Mess

Andres Cortes kept his unbeaten record intact on the Garcia vs Benn undercard, sweeping former featherweight titleholder Mark Magsayo 97-93 across all three cards to move to 26-0 (13 KO). It was a comfortable decision on paper. It was anything but tidy in practice.

The night's real headline wasn't the winner. It was the sheer confusion around whether Magsayo, now 29-3 (19 KO), was actually being dropped. Referee Celestino Ruiz called two knockdowns, then reversed both of them. On two more occasions Magsayo hit the canvas and nothing was ruled at all. If there's a record for most times a fighter goes down without officially going down, Magsayo probably just set it.

How It Played Out

Cortes did the early work that mattered. He built a lead in the opening two-thirds of the fight while Magsayo stumbled through those disputed sequences, and by the time the Filipino found some rhythm, the math was already stacked against him.

Magsayo did rally late. There were flashes of the fighter who once held a world title, moments where he pressed forward and made Cortes work. But it came far too late to erase the deficit, and the judges saw a clear night for the American.

Eric Cheek, Chris Migliore and Davis Sutherland all landed on 97-93 for Cortes. That's a three-round margin, and it lines up cleanly with how the fight actually unfolded — early control, late pushback that never threatened the lead.

What the Cards Say

The scoring wasn't controversial in the way the officiating was. Independent unofficial cards had it 97-93 and 98-92, both for Cortes. So while the phantom knockdowns muddied the visual, nobody's arguing about who won.

That matters for Cortes because it's the kind of result that builds a résumé quietly. Thirteen KOs in 26 wins tells you he's not a one-punch finisher — he's a points-piler, a control fighter who wins rounds and banks them. Beating a former titleholder, however chaotic the circumstances, is a name on the ledger.

What's Next

The obvious next move is Cortes against Jose "Rayo" Valenzuela. Both are under the Zuffa Boxing banner, and Valenzuela is riding two wins with the promotion — same stretch Cortes has put together since arriving from Top Rank. It's a fight that makes sense on paper and on the promotional org chart, which is often what gets deals done.

For Magsayo, the road gets harder. Three losses in a career built on that featherweight title reign means the margin for error is gone. The late-fight surge here shows there's still something in the tank, but he needs a rebound, not another moral-victory decision loss.

Cortes, meanwhile, gets to stay perfect and keep climbing. Ugly wins still count. And 26-0 is 26-0, no matter how many times the referee changed his mind.