SAN ANTONIO – Brandon Figueroa is convinced he did enough to defeat Stephen Fulton seven months ago.
According to Figueroa, his consistent aggression and volume punching should’ve separated him from Fulton on the scorecards. Nevertheless, Fulton officially became the first opponent to defeat Figueroa, who lost a majority decision and his WBC belt in their 12-round, 122-pound title unification fight November 27 at Park MGM’s Dolby Live in Las Vegas.
Though he definitely doesn’t agree with judges Tim Cheatham and Dave Moretti, both of whom scored Fulton a 116-112 winner, or judge David Sutherland, who scored Fulton-Figueroa a draw, 114-114, Figueroa wants to redeem himself in his featherweight debut Saturday night at Alamodome. Figueroa (22-1-1, 17 KOs), of Weslaco, Texas, will oppose Phoenix’s Carlos Castro (27-1, 12 KOs) in a 12-round WBC featherweight elimination match Showtime will air prior to a main event in which the Philippines’ Mark Magsayo (24-0, 16 KOs) will make his first defense of the WBC featherweight title against Mexico’s Rey Vargas (35-0, 22 KOs), Magsayo’s mandatory challenger.
Figueroa felt different toward the end of this training camp because he had to lose four fewer pounds than he had grown accustomed while he competed in the 122-pound division.
“I feel my strength, my power, my speed, everything is just a little bit better,” Figueroa told BoxingScene.com. “And obviously, we’re looking to improve every time, especially after my last fight. I don’t like to lose. I have a lot to show, I have a lot to prove. You know, you’re always proving, especially to yourself, that you belong at the highest level. So, that’s what I’m going for, improving every time and wanting those world championship fights.”
As much as Figueroa wanted to pursue an immediate rematch with Philadelphia’s Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs), he was committed to moving up to the featherweight limit of 126 pounds before they fought. Shrinking down to 122 pounds had taken too much of a physical toll on Figueroa, who expects his physical freshness to make a difference during his fight against Castro.
“That decision was already made way before that fight,” Figueroa said. “It’s been in the talks I wanna say since even before [I fought] Luis Nery [in May 2021], me moving up to 126. It was always a thought because I’m growing. I’m 5-9, I’m a big 122-pounder and I’m not getting any younger. I’m getting my man muscle, my body’s maturing and it was getting a little more difficult to maintain 122. I never missed weight at 122. I’m disciplined, but you know, I was just putting my body through too much strain.
“Even though I was making 122, I always did because of my discipline, consistency and my diet has always been really well. But as far as that, you know, I wasn’t really giving everything in the ring. You know, I was kind of killing myself a little bit too much to make 122. But now, as a 126-pounder, now things are a little bit different. The challenges are there and I wanna become a world champion at 126.”
Showtime’s telecast will start at 9 p.m. ET. Its three-bout broadcast will begin with a 10-round junior welterweight bout between Frank Martin (15-0, 11 KOs), a lightweight contender from Indianapolis, and Dominican contender Jackson Marinez (19-2, 7 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
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