By Keith Idec

NEW YORK – Omar Figueroa considers his welterweight fight against Robert Guerrero “a pit stop” at 147 pounds.

Figueroa told BoxingScene.com that he plans to move back down to 140 pounds after facing Guerrero in a “PBC on FOX” main event Saturday night at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York (8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT).

“I want to at least win a title at 140,” Figueroa said, “and then make the move up to 147.”

The 27-year-old Figueroa competed around the junior welterweight limit of 140 pounds once after giving up his WBC world lightweight title. He beat former lightweight and junior welterweight champion Ricky Burns (41-6-1, 14 KOs) by unanimous decision in that May 2015 bout.

His next fight, seven months later, was contested above the welterweight limit. Figueroa, of Weslaco, Texas, weighed in at 151 pounds for his 12-round, unanimous-decision defeat of ex-lightweight champion Antonio DeMarco (32-6-1, 23 KOs) in December 2015.

The undefeated Figueroa hasn’t fought since he defeated DeMarco. He spent 13 months away from trainer Joel Diaz’s gym in Southern California after that fight.

“I was out of the gym for over a year,” Figueroa said, “so it was good that my team decided to make a pit stop at 47 and then maintain after the fight, and then make it easier to go back down to 140.”

Figueroa (26-0-1, 18 KOs) says he’s not sure how high he went up in weight during an extended break he needed both physically and mentally.

“I don’t know exactly,” Figueroa said. “I wasn’t checking my weight. I wasn’t gonna be worrying myself. I ate and I drank at will, and I said, ‘I’ll take care of it when I get back.’ ”

After returning to Diaz’s gym January 20, Figueroa was surprised into didn’t take longer to get back into boxing shape.

“I knew it was gonna take me a few months,” Figueroa said, “but the learning curve is a lot less for me because I’ve been doing this my whole life. So it didn’t take as long as I honestly thought it was gonna take.”

While 147 pounds isn’t Figueroa’s preferred weight, the 34-year-old Guerrero (33-5-1, 18 KOs, 2 NC) has been a full-fledged welterweight for five years.

The former four-division champion also will end a long layoff when he fights Figueroa on Saturday night. The Gilroy, California, native hasn’t fought since surprisingly losing a split decision to Argentina’s David Peralta (27-3-1, 14 KOs) in a 12-rounder August 27 in Anaheim, California.

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