By Keith Idec

Omar Figueroa hopes Robert Guerrero stands and trades with him throughout their 10-round welterweight fight Saturday night.

The undefeated Figueroa just can’t see that happening, not once he starts landing power punches against the veteran southpaw in their “PBC on FOX” main event at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. Guerrero’s toughness and chin have served him extremely well throughout his career, but Figueroa figures Guerrero (33-5-1, 18 KOs, 2 NC) will take a different approach against him because he never stops coming forward and is such a high-volume puncher.

“They all say that they’re gonna stand in the middle of the ring and go toe-to-toe and blah, blah, blah,” Figueroa said during a recent conference call. “But it’s always a different story once they start getting hit. It’s like Mike Tyson said, you know, everybody has a plan until you get hit. So I feel things will change once he steps in the ring with me and he sees how hard I hit and how effective I am on the inside. Then it’ll be more of me chasing after him for a few rounds. Hopefully I’m right.”

Guerrero, 34, said during the same conference call that the unsuccessful stretch in which he has won just two of his past six fights has made him reassess his approach. According to Guerrero, he had become too reliant on trying to score knockouts and didn’t stick to the game plans his father/trainer, Ruben Guerrero, established during training camps.

Three of the four aforementioned defeats came against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Keith Thurman and Danny Garcia, who have a combined record of 110-1 (67 KOs, 1 NC). Guerrero is certain he could’ve boxed better and smarter against those top welterweights, which he plans to do when he faces Figueroa (26-0-1, 18 KOs) in what’s expected to develop into an action-packed fight.

That doesn’t mean, though, that Guerrero won’t mix it up as Figueroa persistently pressures him in what will be Figueroa’s first fight in 19 months.

“Don’t get me wrong,” Guerrero said, “just because I said I’m gonna be using my head don’t mean I’m gonna be over here on my toes, you know, prancing around and moving and moving. I’m here to fight. When it comes down to using my head, I’m talking about putting all my skills to use and doing things that I have done in the boxing gym, listening to my father in the corner on taking advice on what I need to do and what I need to change up.

“But don’t get me wrong, you know, using my head – I was never that type of dancing-around, moving-around boxer. I’ve always been the type of boxer where I’ll stand there in the pocket and stuff like that. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not there to run around and move and shake and bake. I’m there to fight.”

Guerrero, of Gilroy, California, and Figueroa, of Weslaco, Texas, will headline a tripleheader scheduled to start at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on FOX.

Saturday’s telecast also will feature a 10-round light heavyweight bout between Long Island’s Sean Monaghan (28-0, 17 KOs) and Staten Island’s Marcus Browne (19-0, 14 KOs), who’ve sparred many rounds against one another. Polish heavyweights Artur Szpilka (20-2, 15 KOs) and Adam Kownacki (15-0, 12 KOs) will square off in the third televised 10-rounder.

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