Anthony Olascuaga found a dramatic way to avoid a second straight defeat.
A terrific but grueling in-ring battle with Giemel Magramo ended in an instant as Olascauga scored a come-from-behind, seventh-round stoppage victory. A right hand in the midst of a flurry froze Magramo, as a subsequent right and and left hook was enough for referee Katsuhiko Nakamura to stop the fight at 2:57 of round seven Monday at Ariake Arena in Tokyo.
The battle of former title challengers saw the Philippines’ Magramo jump out to a strong start. Los Angeles’ Olascuaga was six months removed from a ninth-round stoppage defeat versus lineal/WBA/WBC junior flyweight champion Kenshiro Teraji in this very venue. He struggled to find his way in this fight as Magramo banked several early rounds.
Things took a sudden turn late in round seven.
Olascuaga slowly turned the tide by that point but put the fight away for good with just seconds to go in the round. Magramo was moving backward towards the ropes when Olascauga let his hands go with a series of power shots.
A right hand froze the Filipino in place and forced him to briefly pitch back. Olascauga landed a right hand and left hook behind it, which was enough for the referee to intervene.
Magramo fell to 28-4 (23KOs) and has suffered three defeats in his last seven starts. One of the losses came in an eighth-round stoppage to Junto Nakatani, Olascuaga’s stablemate who won the vacant WBO flyweight title in their November 2020 bout.
Olascuaga improved to 6-1 (4KOs) with the win, his first since last October. He entered 2023 undefeated and was due to fight on the April 8 undercard in Tokyo. He wound up replacing promotional stablemate WBO junior flyweight titlist Jonathan ‘Bomba’ Gonzalez, who fell ill and was unable to face Teraji in a planned unifcation bout.
Teraji headlines the show in a lineal/WBA/WBC junior flyweight championship defense versus former two-division titlist Hekkie Budler (35-4, 11KOs).
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox