THE first time I saw Mark Magsayo was during his press conference for his fight against the dangerous Chris Avalos on April 23, 2016. At 13-0, Magsayo was going to face his first real test in The Hitman, who was 26-4 with 19 KOs at that time.
True enough, Avalos rocked Magsayo in the third before the Boholano fought back and stopped The Hitman in the sixth round, as the crowd in the Cebu City Sports Center cheered for him wildly.
I think everyone in the CCSC started thinking that this boxer will one day fight for a world title.
However, it seems Magsayo is headed for a different kind of fight these days and it's against his previous (per his camp's claim) or current (per ALA's claim) promotion outfit, ALA Promotions.
Who is telling the truth between them? I think at this time, it's for the courts to decide.
Magsayo's camp says both promotional and managerial contracts have expired, while ALA said it still has a four-year promotional contract with Magsayo, while acknowledging that its managerial contract lapsed last year.
I asked Games and Amusement Board chairman Baham Mitra for his take on this and he said based on their record, ALA's managerial contract with Magsayo has indeed expired but they aren't privy to the promotional contracts between fighters and promoters.
He also said that while some conflicts like this one may be settled under their office, some go directly to the court. Based on their latest statements, I think this is where Magsayo and ALA are headed.
Still, like Mitra, I am hoping this could be settled amicably with both parties' concerns addressed.
"We hope that both parties agree on a common ground so that Mark's career would not be affected and boxing in general," he said.
Any court fight will get ugly and will only derail Magsayo's career, but I hope it doesn't have to come to that. However, I do think there's a simple solution to this; if both ALA and Magsayo produce their copies of the promotional contracts, then we will find out who is telling the truth.
However, if their contracts differ as to when it ends, then that's when the barnyard dung will hit the ceiling and it's going to be an ugly fight that would taint both ALA and fighter.
I hope it doesn't have to come to that.