ONTARIO, California – Back-to-back losses in featherweight title fights and a draining struggle to get down to 126 pounds last week have convinced Mark Magsayo that it’s time for him to enter the junior lightweight division.

Magsayo made his intentions known while he met with a small group of reporters in his locker room following his 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat to Brandon Figueroa on Saturday night at Toyota Arena.

“I think we’re gonna move up to 130,” Magsayo said.

By losing to Figueroa (24-1-1, 18 KOs), the strong Filipino fighter was denied a chance at a rematch with Rey Vargas.

Mexico’s Vargas edged Magsayo (24-2, 16 KOs) by split decision in Magsayo’s previous fight, another 12-rounder July 9 at Alamodome in San Antonio. Magsayo and Figueroa fought for the WBC interim featherweight title.

Vargas (30-1, 22 KOs) watched their fight from ringside three weeks after the WBC 126-pound champion suffered his first professional defeat to O’Shaquie Foster in a 12-rounder for the then-vacant WBC 130-pound crown. Foster (20-2, 11 KOs), of Orange, Texas, unanimously defeated Vargas on points February 11 at Alamodome.

If Magsayo were to stay in the featherweight division, he’d have to work his way back toward another title shot. The Valencia, California resident upset long-reigning champion Gary Russell Jr. (31-2, 18 KOs) by majority decision to win the WBC featherweight title in January 2022 at Borgata Hotel, Casino & Spa in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

It became increasingly difficult for the 27-year-old contender to make the featherweight limit over the past 13 months, though.

Magsayo missed weight on his first try Friday, when he stepped on the California State Athletic Commission’s scale at 126.8 pounds. He needed almost the entire two hours allotted by the CSAC to return to the scale exactly at 126 pounds.

Sean Gibbons, Magsayo’s promotional representative, acknowledged after his loss Saturday night that Magsayo already would’ve moved up to junior lightweight if he hadn’t been presented with another featherweight championship chance.

“He was feeling moving up to [130] before this opportunity came,” said Gibbons, the president of Manny Pacquiao’s promotional company. “We were going up to [130], and then the Figueroa fight came. And he said, ‘You know what? For this type of fight, I’m gonna make it again.’ And as you saw, it wasn’t easy. You know, he got there, but that, you know, took a little something out of him, also.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for krikya360.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.