Magsayo’s Lightweight Debut Ended With McCrory’s Corner
Mark Magsayo stopped Feargal McCrory in round five on April 5, 2026, at the Meta APEX in Las Vegas. The Zuffa Boxing 05 co-main event introduced the former featherweight world champion to lightweight with a successful promotional debut.
The matchup and early action
Magsayo entered a new weight division after championship experience at featherweight. McCrory supplied an experienced Irish opponent in a scheduled ten-round contest beneath Andres Cortes’s meeting with Eridson Garcia.
The move to 135 pounds gave Magsayo an opportunity to establish his offense against larger opposition. He answered that immediate question with a performance that forced the contest to end before the scheduled distance.
The decisive developments
McCrory’s corner decided to withdraw him during the fifth-round stage of the bout. Magsayo celebrated the technical-knockout victory, while the Irish boxer expressed frustration with his team’s decision to stop the action.
The result improved Magsayo to 29–2 with nineteen knockouts. McCrory fell to 17–2 after being unable to complete the assignment against a former world titleholder.
What the result meant
Cortes won the main event unanimously over Garcia, with scores of 97–92, 96–93 and 95–94. Azat Hovhannisyan also defeated Eduardo Baez by majority decision on the featured portion of the program.
For Magsayo, the important development was adding a finish in his first lightweight appearance under the Zuffa banner. The victory placed him among the promotion’s emerging contenders without requiring the judges to assess a full ten rounds.
