ONTARIO, California – Mark Magsayo and his handlers aren’t the only ones who think his fight against Brandon Figueroa was much closer than the three judges scored it.

Figueroa acknowledged during his post-fight press conference Saturday night that their 12 rounds of action were more competitive than the official result indicates. Judges Gary Ritter (117-109), Fernando Villarreal (117-109) and Zachary Young (118-108) all scored at least nine rounds for Figueroa, who won the WBC interim featherweight title by beating Magsayo.

“Honestly, I thought it was a pretty close fight,” Figueroa said. “But I know for a fact, you know, the point deductions and me just overwhelming him almost most of the fight paid big dividends to [winning the fight].”

Magsayo (24-2, 16 KOs) was effective during the first half of their “Showtime Championship Boxing” main event, but fatigue affected him in the second half of it. The Philippines’ Magsayo fell the canvas several times and although none of those trips to the canvas counted as knockdowns, Figueroa felt Magsayo got tired relatively early in their bout because Figueroa applied plenty of mental and physical pressure on him and wore him down with body shots.

Figueroa admitted Magsayo’s power was more noticeable than that of his 122-pound opponents. The Weslaco, Texas native nevertheless sensed Magsayo was reluctant to exchange with him on the inside.

“He had a little bit more pop,” Figueroa said. “He moved pretty good [early in the fight]. You know, me and my team knew that the first few rounds he was gonna come out strong, fast, sharp, try to catch me with big shots. And I just had to be patient. I just had to box him a little bit, keep my distance, pick at the body. And once I saw I damaged him to the body, I just got on the inside and just worked him.”

Young scored the final nine rounds for Figueroa, who won 10 rounds on his card. Ritter and Villarreal each scored eight of the last nine rounds for Figueroa (24-1-1, 18 KOs).

Magsayo complained afterward about the huge margins by which Figueroa won on the scorecards, as well as referee Thomas Taylor’s two point deductions. Taylor took a point apiece from Magsayo in the eighth and 11th rounds for holding and hitting Figueroa.

Magsayo bent over and held him so often, according to Figueroa, because Magsayo was bothered by the body punches he landed.

“I started boxing him from the first round and I started seeing that he wasn’t really giving me action,” Figueroa said. “And once I was picking at his body, I saw that, you know, as soon as I got on the inside he was shelling up really quick, meaning that he was scared to fight me on the inside. So that allowed me to, you know, put more pressure and I saw that he was missing a lotta shots. He was just getting me with the little flurries. And, you know, I let him. I let him gas out a little bit, made him miss and I was just waiting for him to gas out a little bit more, and I just took it right to him.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.