WBC featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa wants to be more patient and use his boxing skills for his rematch with Stephen Fulton Jr. on the 1st of February.
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions)
Fulton (25-1-1, 19 KOs) feels that he has exhausted his power by fighting narrowly, looking to slug it out in his 12-round majority decision over Fulton three years ago on November 27, 2021, and he doesn’t want to. make the same mistakes again.
Things are different now than in the first fight. Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) was knocked out by Naoya Inoue in the eighth round last July, and appeared to be a shell of himself coming off a 14-month layoff to defeat Carlos Castro by split decision in 10 rounds. on September 14.
Fulton went up in the fifth round, was sent to the canvas, and wound up additional rounds against the non-puncher. This fight showed that there may be remnants of Fulton’s KO loss to Inoue still lingering, hindering his ability to land a hard punch or even one not as hard as the ones Casto hit him with.
Fulton is 30 years old and has had a long career of 10 years, and he is not at the level he was when he beat Figueroa three years ago.
“I feel like I pressured him too much that I let him down. I can box. I have other skills that I didn’t show in that (Fulton) fight,” said Brandon Figueroa to Fight Hub TVtalking about his February 1st rematch with Stephen Fulton.
Punch Stats for Figueroa-Fulton Jr. 1
– Figueroa landed 314 of 1060 punches for a 30%
– Fulton Jr. was 247 of 668 for 37%
“I feel like I have to show everything. I want to show why I’m the best 126-pounder and just come out and make a statement. Take a little step back, be more patient, and trust my ability to box a little bit more,” Figueroa said about what he thought he should have done against Fulton the first time around.
Figueroa will have to use more of his boxing ability if he wants to avoid being inboxed again by Fulton. If Figueroa’s power improved, he could duplicate what Inoue did to Fulton by landing a hard head shot to knock him out, but he needs speed and accuracy.
Figueroa’s last three fights:
– Jesse Magdalena
– Mark Magsayo
– Carlo Castro
“This time, I know what to do. I’m going to work in this training camp for it. It’s a great fight. This is my division, and I want to try. Naoya is one of the best, and I’m in this sport to fight the best,” Figueroa said about whether he would like to fight Naoya Inoue.
“My fighting elevated me to one of the best pound for pound. I got a lot of comments from people. Even people who thought Fulton won last time are rooting for me now. I’m a very exciting and aggressive fighter . I know that Stephen Fulton will be very well prepared and we will give the fans a great show,” said Figueroa.
Stephen Fulton’s recent contests
– Carlo Castro
– Naoya Inoue
– Daniel Romanuch
