Mark Magsayo pulls upset to halt Gary Russell Jr.'s long WBC featherweight title reign

The longest active run by a boxing male title-holder in boxing is over.

Mark Magsayo upset Gary Russell Jr. by majority decision on Saturday night — 114-114; 115-113 and 115-113 — to claim the WBC featherweight title in Atlantic City, N.J., taking away Russell's title after almost seven years with the WBC belt.

«This is my dream come true,» Magsayo said on Showtime following the fight. «This is my dream since I was a kid.»

The 33-year-old Russell (31-2, 18 KO) entered Saturday as the longest-reigning current male champion in boxing at six years, 10 months — holding the title starting March 28, 2015 when he recorded a technical knockout of Jhonny Gonzalez in the fourth round.

But Russell's reign had not been incredibly active. He fought five times between winning the title and then when he lost it Saturday — including a break of almost two years from his win over Tugstsogt Nyambayar on Feb. 8, 2020 until Saturday. Russell hasn't fought more than once in a calendar year since 2014.

And Russell's time as champion ended with him not at full strength — saying post-fight he believed he has a torn tendon in his right shoulder, something he felt he hurt two weeks ago. Russell said he may need surgery and that it was an old injury dating back to the leadup to the 2008 Olympics. He threw 64 jabs — far fewer than he usually does in a fight. He often seemed to be avoiding throwing many punches with his right arm.

«I refused to put this fight back and I fought with one arm,» Russell said on Showtime after the fight. «He had his hands full with a fighter with one arm the whole fight. I gave him a boxing lesson.»

Russell said he will request a rematch. He said he fought because «that's what true champions do,» and felt he still gave