Jessie Magdaleno’s tough decisions lead to world title shot

Diego Magdaleno didn’t want his little brother, Jessie, to tag along when he was out doing teenager activities.

That wasn’t the case when it came to boxing. Diego, 5 years older than his brother, forced Jessie to be in the gym with him.

“When I was going out with friends, that’s when I told him, ‘Back up. Go do your own thing,’” Diego Magdaleno said. “But with the boxing thing, I always wanted him around with me. When I went and trained, he knew he had to be there, too.

“I knew he had the skills to do something special.”

Jessie Magdaleno (23-0, 17 knockouts) probably has big bro to thank for pushing him to reach his boxing potential. The younger Magdaleno will get his first world title shot when he meets WBO junior featherweight champion Nonito Donaire (37-3, 24 KOs) on the co-main event of the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas undercard Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Diego Magdaleno, 30, started boxing at a gym in East Los Angeles when he was 8. The following year, the Magdaleno family moved to Las Vegas.

The Magdaleno brothers spent most of their days inside the old Golden Gloves Gym near Cashman Field.

“We loved that place,” said the older Magdaleno of the gym that closed its door in 2003. “That’s where Mike Tyson would be knocking down 500-pound punching bags. That’s where it started for me and Jessie.”

Jessie Magdaleno, who turns 25 on Tuesday, hasn’t always been serious about boxing. He was a standout soccer player, but decided to focus on boxing when he won his first amateur tournament.

“Jessie is a jokester, but he sometimes would take it too far when we needed to be serious,” Diego Magdaleno said.

The younger Magdaleno started losing the passion for boxing when he and his fiancee split up last year and had to share custody of their son. The two have recently gotten back together.

“Things with my family are great,” Jessie Magdaleno said. “My fiancee has helped me a lot with my son while I’ve been away training. Hopefully we can get married after I win this title.”

Magdaleno had to make tough decisions to get his career back on track. He made multiple trainer changes even if it meant disappointing his family.

The southpaw boxer broke ties with trainer Ismael Salas and left his family in Las Vegas to train in Palm Springs, California, with Joel Diaz. Salas now trains Magdaleno’s opponent, Donaire.

Magdaleno again was tagging along with his older brother. Diego Magdaleno is also trained by Diaz.

The Diaz relationship lasted only one fight.

“My brother probably didn’t like me leaving Joel, but I had to do what is best for my career,” Jessie Magdaleno said. “My brother and I don’t share careers. I gotta do what’s best for me.”

Magdaleno finally found his match with rising trainer Manny Robles, who has his gym in Carson, California.

Robles has become one of the top trainers in the sport and also will be in the corner of WBO featherweight champion Oscar Valdez on Saturday.

“Having Jessie in the gym has been great,” Valdez said. “You can see the hunger he has to be great. He pushes me and everyone in the gym.”

Robles, like Magdaleno, likes to have fun in the gym by performing singalongs with his fighters. Spanish rancheras is a popular music genre.

“Yeah, people see the fun we have on (social media),” Robles said. “But you guys don’t see the hard work when the cameras aren’t rolling. You gotta know how to communicate with your fighters and keep it fun.”

Magdaleno has finally found his balance with Robles and is ready to break out in the boxing world.

Diego Magdaleno (29-2, 12 KOs) can relate to his little brother. Diego had two opportunities to win titles but lost both times. He lost to Roman Martinez in 2013 and had the worst performance of his career when he fell to Terry Flanagan in England last year.

Top Rank decided to part ways with Diego after the Flanagan loss.

“I’ve learned from Jessie to always be happy even when things get hard,” Diego Magdaleno said. “You can’t always be serious. You guys haven’t seen the last of me. I’m going to be remembered as the guy who wouldn’t give up on his dream of becoming a world champion.”

Diego Magdaleno, still a free agent, had an impressive win against Art Hovhannisyan last month.

The older Magdaleno walked around Jessie’s media day Monday at Top Rank Gym like a proud brother.

“This is so cool to be here for this,” Diego said. “This is Jessie’s time.”

Contact Gilbert Manzano at gmanzano@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0492. Follow @gmanzano24 on Twitter.