Jessie Magdaleno is planning to embarrass Brandon Figueroa.
The featherweight rivals fight Saturday on the undercard of Saul “Canelo” Alvarez-Jaime Munguia, at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on the occasion of Cinco de Mayo weekend.
Magdaleno, 32, fights to return to the level he was at in 2018 until he was stopped by Isaac Dogboe, and appears in the ring for the first time in 13 months and since his defeat by Raymond Ford.
The 27-year-old Figueroa last fought 14 months ago when he outpointed Mark Magsayo and is regarded as the favorite, but for all of the combination of his aggression and the aggression from Magdaleno that is expected to prove so entertaining, Magdaleno has insisted that he will out-think his opponent on his way to so vital a win.
“He’s a great fighter,” Magdaleno said. “He’s a champion for a reason, but I just have more. I have more fundamentals, I have more ring IQ, and overall I think I’m the better fighter.
“He throws a lot of punches. He applies high pressure, throws a high volume of punches. But I see things that a lot of people don’t see. I see things that fighters – true fighters who’ve been in the game for a very long time – see that he can improve.
“This is the most confidence I’ve built up for a very long time; I’m just ready to show the world. When you put certain styles in front of me, I know what I’m capable of and I know what I’m ready to do.
“[It’s going to be like, in 2017, Vasily] Lomachenko and [Guillermo] Rigondeaux. Lomachenko made Rigondeaux look like nothing. It’s those types of fights, it’s those type of … having the high ring IQ, having the intelligence and sticking to the game plan. That’s what brings the best out in you, and most of all fighters like this who want to come and fight – that’s what makes it even better for fighters like myself.
“My ring IQ. My intelligence. My many years in this game already. That’s what’s going to show Saturday night.
“I don’t think it’s make or break. Everybody wants to be the one to say that it’s somebody’s last fight. It’s never somebody’s last fight. It all depends on the fighter.”