What to Know
- An exciting young heavyweight made a major statement on the undercard of the Garcia vs Benn fight card Saturday.
- Da’Mazion Vanhouter didn’t give fans a long look at him. It was fine with them.
- Lightweight Andres Cortes announced himself as a serious player in the lightweight division.
It’s a good thing for boxing to get excited about a young American heavyweight hopeful.
Da’Mazion Vanhouter of St. Petersburg, Florida (13-0, 10 KOs), age 21 and nicknamed “Mazi,” electrified the Las Vegas crowd for the first time Saturday with a sensational victory over Raphael Akpejiori of Miami via Nigeria (19-4, 18 KOs).
Akepjiori is a former football player turned boxer and stood 6-foot-8, six inches taller than Vanhouter. It didn’t slow Vanhouter down from stepping straight to him at the opening bell, launching and landing power shots, scoring an early knockdown against Akepjiori.
Vanhouter lurked in the neutral corner as referee Robert Hoyle administered the count. The crowd roared as Vanhouter chased Akpejiori around the ring. Hoyle called out and said, “Raphael, show me something.”
To stop the exchange, Akpejiori tied Vanhouter up, stretching his left arm and appearing to strain or even injure his shoulder. Later, Vanhouter said it was fine. But it didn’t matter.
The fighters separated, and Vanhouter pounded Akpejiori with two right hooks. Akpejiori fell backward to the canvas, out cold. No count was needed at 1:58 of the round.
HOLY HELL DA’MAZION VANHOUTER
THAT’S HIS 2ND FIRST ROUND KO IN-A-ROW ‼️
TUNE IN NOW: https://t.co/1fucBO82vE | #GarciaBenn pic.twitter.com/l0K36ZB5tg
— Zuffa_Boxing (@Zuffa_Boxing) September 13, 2026
“If I didn’t want to be the best, I wouldn’t be here. I want to be the best. I want to be the greatest to put on a pair of gloves. So, I will continue to grow, continue to get better. Back to the drawing board on Monday, and on to the next.
Vanhouter said he’d like to fight an opponent that can take him more rounds, which will be a challenge for his Zuffa matchmakers. He has only gone past four rounds once in his first dozen pro fights. We’ll enjoy watching them try.
READ MORE: Alexis Rocha, Vlad Panin Shine In Early Undercard Results
Andres Cortes Proves He’s For Real
Lightweight Andres Cortes of Las Vegas (26-0, 13 KOs) has been recognized as a talented prospect. He validated this assessment with a strong performance against former featherweight champion Mark Magsayo of the Philippines (29-3, 19 KOs). Cortes won a rough-and-tumble fight by unanimous decision. Scores were 97-93 on all three cards.
Magsayo likes to mix it up on the inside with power punches. Cortes said after the win he wanted to give the fans a fun fight, but after the first few rounds, he made the smart decision to apply his superior boxing skills developed during a successful amateur career.
“I try to walk them down and give the fans an exciting fight for this for this special day. But you know, sometimes you get hit, so I resorted back to boxing,” said Cortes.
Going down to the wire 😳
Who do you have winning this one?
TUNE IN NOW: https://t.co/1fucBO82vE | #GarciaBenn pic.twitter.com/Kf7r1zuB4T
— Zuffa_Boxing (@Zuffa_Boxing) September 13, 2026
In rounds three and four, referee Celestino Ruiz called knockdowns on Mark Magsayo, who has a habit of sinking to the canvas when an opponent is leaning on him. Both calls were overturned through replay, which is in place in Nevada.
Lightweight isn’t truly Magsayo’s best division. As he has moved up, he faces opponents who are harder to hurt. Magsayo wobbled Cortes with an excellent left hook in the eighth round but couldn’t capitalize beyond this.
CompuBox stats show Cortes landed 42% of his power punches and outlanded Magsayo in seven of the 10 rounds.
“This is everything I dreamed of. Everybody knows how good I am inside the gym, outside the gym. If you know me, you know how good I am. But my time’s coming,” said Cortes, who said he’d like to fight fellow Zuffa lightweight Jose “Rayo” Valenzuela, who was watching ringside.
Gayle Falkenthal is an award-winning boxing journalist with more than four dozen awards for both written and video coverage from the Boxing Writers Association of America, Society of Professional Journalists, and San Diego Press Club, where she is the past president. She is the only woman journalist who is a full voting member of the BWAA. She is the Boxing Editor for NY Fights based in San Diego, California.
