Michael Angeletti Salvages Otherwise Tough Weekend for Texas Fighters.

Houston Area Super featherweight prospect Michael Angeletti continues to take care of business and shoot up the 122-pound rankings. He scored a sensational first-round stoppage of an overmatched Rafael Morel on the undercard of Figueroa-Lipinets at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida. The knockout came abruptly at 2:28 of the opening round. Morel apparently suffered a fractured orbital bone in the fight. Angeletti moved his record to 6-0 (5). He originally hails from Louisiana, now lives in Spring, Texas, and is a 2016 US National Amateur champion. Angeletti hopes to be fighting for a world title within a year to a year and a half. He has sparred with the likes of Shakur Stevenson and has gone 10-12 rounds with the 130-pound unified champ. Additionally, he has done a lot of sparring with the legendary Cuban former world champ and two-time Gold Medalist Guillermo Rogondeaux. That preparation, with those legends combined with his early success, has assured him he is ready to move up in class and challenge for world titles. However, when he does move up, he plans on moving down in weight to 118lbs.

In the cards' main event, Rio Grande Valley hero and the first world champion to come from "The Valley", Omar "Panterita" Figueroa, didn't fare as well. Figueroa called it a career after a high-action but mostly one-sided loss to former 140-pound world champion Sergey Lipinets. Lipinets secured the victory via 8th round TKO when Figueroa's father and trainer Omar Sr informed Chris Young that his son had enough. Figueroa expressed that he was able to overcome a series of mental health issues and was thankful for the camp and preparation he had to even get back in the ring, but said his body just wasn't responding. If this is the last time we see Figueroa in the ring, he will walk away with a 28-3-1 (19) record, held the WBC lightweight title, and was one of the most entertaining and fan-friendly fighters of his era.

Also in action was "Pork Chop" Alejandro Guerrero who originally hails from Irving but now fights out of Houston, took on Xavier Martinez on the undercard of the Navarrete-Baez card in the Pechanga Arena in San Diego. Pork Chop gut things going in the fourth round and wobbled Martinez courtesy of a right hand. However, the success didn't last, as Martinez rallied and had Guerrero badly hurt in the fifth. Martinez unleashed a flurry of power shots causing Referee Eddie Hernandez, Sr. to call a halt to the bout. Guerrero dropped to 12-3 (9). It's his third consecutive loss after a very promising 12-0 start to his young career.

Broner Pulls Out of Fight With Figueroa, Replaced with Former Champ Lipinets

A fight between former lightweight champion and Rio Grande Valley native Omar Figueroa of Weslaco and four-division former champ Adrien "The Problem" Broner has been in the making for four years. The long-awaited and highly anticipated bout is now officially off. Broner, a Cincinnati, Ohio native, has cited mental health concerns. Taking to Twitter, the former champ said "Man, I'm going [through] a lot at this moment in my life, but I ain't go give up...I set some more goals and I finish what I started but sorry to say this but I'm not fighting August 20th." Officially killing the fight. On paper, the fight is extremely intriguing due to the contrast in styles. Unfortunately, fans will not go to see it.

The Texan has been an outspoken leader in the battle for mental health and has opened up about his own struggles in the past criticized Broner for pulling out of the August 20th fight. Suggested it's a lack of discipline. “I’m 100-percent sure that it’s lack of discipline and him being him, while not questioning if he has mental health issues, but hiding behind the whole thing now is just a low blow,” and went on to say “So, I don’t understand why he doesn’t man up and come clean that he f—cked up, instead of trying to pull the mental health card, because I feel it undermines what me and a lot of people have gone through and are going through. It’s a constant daily struggle that I have had to deal with throughout this camp."

Figueroa will still headline the four-bout card that will take place at the Seminole Hard Rock Casino in Hollywood, Fla., and will air on Showtime. He will battle with former IBF 140-Pound champ Sergey Lipinets. Lipinets hails from Martuk, Kazakhstan, and sports a 16-2-1 (12). He last fought in April of 2021 and got destroyed by surging welterweight prospect Jaron "Boots" Ennis. Before that, he had a highly entertaining draw with Custio Clayton. His last win was all the way back in 2019 when he stopped Jay Ar Inson in the second round on the undercard of Pacquiao-Thurman.

Weslaco's Omar Figueroa Set To Return Against Broner

The Rio Grande Valley's own "Panterita" Omar Figueroa is set to return to the ring in a big way. The now 32-year-old south Texan is the older brother of Brandon Figueroa, and held the WBC lightweight world title from 2013 to 2014 and will now face off with former four-division world champion Adrien Broner on July 23rd. Reportedly, but not officially, in Chicago. Broner is one of the sport's most polarizing figures, having his share of troubles in and outside the ring. Broner last fought in February of 2021. He scored a lackluster UD over Jovanie Santiago. In a fight, most thought he was lucky to get the decision. Broner is just 4-3-1 (2) in his last eight fights.

The two were originally scheduled to fight in 2018 in a welterweight title eliminator. However, legal issues and a Figueroa shoulder injury sidelined the bout. Broner ended up fighting Jessie Vargas at the Barclays Center and settled for a draw. While Figueroa was out of action for another year and did not return to the ring until February of 2019 when he scored a unanimous decision in an extremely entertaining fight with John Molina moving his record to 28-0-1 (19). He has since suffered two consecutive setbacks and has not looked himself in dropping a lopsided decision to Yordenis Ugas and then being stopped by Abel Ramos last May.

Panterita was a fan favorite who rose to success and fame due to his all-action style. If he can rejuvenate his career and replicate the relentless aggression that made him famous he has the right style to beat and overwhelm Broner, who is very selective and at times reluctant to let his hands go. Figueroa expressed gratitude for the fight, taking to Twitter to say "First off, I want to thank Al Haymon for not giving up on me. I know I haven't been the best version of myself, but, that's because I was fighting against an invisible opponent! I hope Adrien has gotten his #MentalHealth in order because..."

The bout will air on Fox, so the fight will not only end a long layoff for each fighter it will also end the long layoff for PBC on Fox.

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.