Terry Flanagan vs. Diego Magdaleno: Winner, Recap and Reaction

The Terry Flanagan (29-0, 12 KOs) doubters are beginning to disappear slowly but surely. On Saturday night at Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, Flanagan, the reigning WBO lightweight champion, decimated Diego Magdaleno (28-2) in two rounds.

BoxNation saluted the champion after his winning performance:

Here's a look at the finish from Only Full Fights:

In front of a raucous, pro-Flanagan crowd, the champion—who was making his first defense since winning the vacant title over Jose Zepeda in July—took advantage of a wild and careless challenger. After a competitive and somewhat even first round, Flanagan exerted his dominance in the second frame.

Magdaleno was leaving himself open for some heavy shots with a wide stance, scarce head movement and inaccurate punching.

It didn't take long for Flanagan to connect with devastating counterpunches. The power shots were timed perfectly and as accurate as the work of a master surgeon. The first big shot Flanagan landed came during an exchange with Magdaleno.

The champion beat his opponent to the punch with a sweeping right hand that left Magdaleno on the seat of his pants. The challenger rose to his feet and had his wherewithal, but Flanagan wouldn't let up.

Moments later, Flanagan launched a long left uppercut that landed square on Magdaleno's chin. The latter didn't go down immediately, but he was visibly hurt. Flanagan ramped up the pressure even more and dropped the challenger seconds after the big bomb found its mark.

Magdaleno showed great toughness, again getting to his feet, but he was not steady. Flanagan knew he had his man hurt, and he showed no mercy in pursuing the finish. He chased the challenger around the ring, frantically looking for the stoppage.

Referee Terry O'Connor could have pulled the plug on this one earlier, but he gave Magdaleno every opportunity to survive the champion's onslaught. With just 22 seconds remaining in the second round, Flanagan put Magdaleno down again, and O'Connor mercifully called an end to the bout.

The win was a statement maker for Flanagan. The 26-year-old seemed to be stung by a recent ranking from Sky Sports that pegged him as just the fourth-best British fighter in the 135-pound division. 

Per David Anderson of the Mirror, Flanagan responded to the rankings with irritation on Saturday, live on BoxNation:

"

Those Sky rankings are stupid, aren’t they? Deep down I know I’m the best in the country. To even put those stats up is a joke really. I’m very confident of beating them all. They’re not easy fights, and you’re not going to get easy fights at British level because it’s world level in my eyes. All those fighters are more than worthy of fighting for world titles, but I’m confident that I’m the best of the bunch.

"

The three fighters ranked ahead of him are Ricky Burns, Anthony Crolla and Kevin Mitchell. Each is a current or former world champion, but it's hard to imagine any of them dispatching Magdaleno more impressively than Flanagan did on Saturday.

With the victory, Flanagan is now in position to challenge one of those fighters in his next bout. If he can earn a victory over Burns, Crolla or Mitchell, he'll make every critic eat his or her words. For now, Flanagan will celebrate a successful first title defense.

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