Figueroa vs Fulton

Weslaco Native looks to Unify Super Bantamweight Belts

Weslaco, Texas, is a non-descript Texas town located in Hidalgo county along the Rio Grande Valley with a population of about 40,000.  It is now becoming a hotbed for the sweet science as it is now home to two world champions. First Omar "Panterita" Figueroa captured lightweight gold when he outpointed Jerry Belmontes in an all Texas showdown in 2014.  Panterita ran his record to 28-0 (19) gained a reputation as one of the sports most entertaining fighters and moved all the way up to welterweight before losing a decision to Yordenis Ugas in 2019. Now it's little brother's turn, "The HeartBreaker"  Brandon Figeroa was thought to be too small and too weak to be a fighter by his father has proved everyone wrong on his way to becoming a super-bantamweight world champ and one of the top young fighters in the sport. The younger Figueroa brother has compiled a record of 22-0-1 (17) and just scored the best win of his young career in stopping undefeated knockout artist Luis Nery in seven rounds a career-defining win that put the entire 122-pound division on notice. 

The Rio Grande Valley native now looks to unify his WBC belt with WBO super bantamweight champion Stephen Fulton of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the main event of Saturday night's card in Las Vegas at the Park Theatre. In what is one of the most anticipated fights of the year. Back in August of 2019 the two-faced off after Figueroa had scored a spectacular fourth-round knockout in his homecoming fight at the Bert Ogden Arena, Fulton fought on the undercard and the two undefeated stars vowed to fight.  With Both fighters are coming off a career-best and defining win and now both being world champions now is the perfect time for the two to keep their word and square off. Fulton last fought the swarming, volume puncher Angelo Leo on the inside a tactic not many were expecting Fulton, a master boxer, to do. The surprise tactic paid off and Fulton dominated the fight scoring a lopsided unanimous decision. Figueroa will the fourth consecutive undefeated fighter that Fulton will face and is the 10th undefeated fighter Fulton will face in what will be his 20th fight.

Figueroa will enter the ring a 5 to 2 underdog and should he pull the upset and unify the belts. He will have a solid argument to be the fighter of the year, beating two undefeated world champions in just seven months. The fight card will be aired on Showtime and starts at 9 PM CST. The bout was originally scheduled for September but was pushed back when Figueroa tested positive for COVID-19 back on September 7th.

Figueroa vs Fulton: Moved to September 18th

24-year-old  unified 122-pound champion Brandon "The Heartbreaker" Figueroa of Weslaco is coming off of a career-best performance. A seventh-round KO  via body shot of unbeaten WBC super bantamweight champion Luis "Pantera" Nery. The Rio Grande Valley native was set to defend that title as well as his WBA strap against WBO champion Stephen Fulton on September 11. However, with the collapse of the Canelo Alvarez fight that was tentatively scheduled for September 18th. The historic, Mexican Independence Day weekend, that date is now open. The date has previously been filled by superstars like Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, and of course Canelo Alvarez and is a bit of a tradition in the boxing world. The date is now open and can highlight two of PBC's premier young superstars in a unification bout. The bout will likely take place at the Park MGM’s Park Theater in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the bout will air on Showtime

The Heartbreaker is the younger brother of former lightweight champion  Omar "Panterita" Figueroa jr, the two train at Panteritas  Boxing Gym in Weslaco, which is owned by Omar Sr and then switch over to train with famed trainer Joel Diaz in Indio California. Diaz has trained 13-world champions