Stephen Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) will challenge interim WBC featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) in a rematch on Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr. undercard on December 14 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. The event must be shown on PBC on Prime Video PPV.
Fulton, 30, defeated Figueroa two years ago by a 12-round majority decision on Nov. 27, 2021, in a Super Bantamweight unification bout in Las Vegas. Figueroa lost his WBC 122-lb title to WBO champion Fulton in that contest.
The advantages of Brandon Figueroa:
– The power
– Assaults
– Youth
– China
Figueroa is in the prime of his career at 27, and his youth, will and power may be too much for ‘Cool Boy Steph’ Fulton, who doesn’t look like the same fighter he was three years ago do when he beat. Brandon in 2021.
Philadelphia native Fulton’s eighth round loss to “The Monster” Naoya Inoue may have diminished his punch resistance. Inoue took some chips from Fulton in their fight last year in July 2023.
It was a fight that easily could have gone the other way, as Figuera had landed the hardest and cleanest shots throughout. The judges scored as follows:
– 116-112 – Fulton
– 116-112 – Fulton
– 114-114
Fulton recently reached 126 after losing his WBC and WBO super bantamweight titles in an eighth-round knockout to Naoya Inoue on July 25, 2023 in Tokyo.
In Fulton’s featherweight debut, he defeated Carlos Castro via a 10-round split decision last month on September 14 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The heavyset Castro dropped Fulton in the fifth round, but returned to work the tired fighter in the second half of the contest. It was not an impressive performance from Fulton, who showed that his resistance to the punch might not be up to the mark for the 126 lb division, and he lacks the power to dominate in this weight class as he did at 122. Fulton is ranked #1 WBA, #3 WBO, and #4 WBC at featherweight.
Figueroa has looked much better in his recent fights since moving up to featherweight, beating fighters:
– Jesse Magdaleno – TKO last May 9
– Mark Magsayo – UD 12 in March 2023
– Carlos Castro – TKO 6 in July 2022
Should Fulton go back to 122?
If Stephen Fulton loses the rematch to Figueroa by knockout, he needs to consider returning to super bantamweight because he is not strong enough to be a top-flight contender at 126. Also, many powerful fighters at featherweight will benefit . of Fulton’s weak chin and do the same thing Inoue did.
