WBC featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa wants to be more patient and use his boxing skills in his rematch with Stephen Fulton Jr. on February 1.
(Credit: Esther Lin and Ryan Hafey / Premier Boxing Champions)
Fulton (25-1-1, 19 KOs) feels he has exhausted his potential in close fights, looking to retire his 12-round decision over Fulton three years ago on November 27, 2021, and he doesn’t want to. make those mistakes again.
Things are different now than in the first war. Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) was knocked out by Naoya Inoue in the eighth round last year in July, and looked like a shell of himself coming off a 14-month layoff by defeating Carlos Castro via a 10-round split decision. on September 14.
Fulton was rocked in the fifth round, sent to the canvas, and hurt more times in the no-hitter. That fight showed that there may be leftovers from Fulton’s TKO loss to Inoue still, which hurts his ability to take hard or weak punches like the one Casto was hitting him with.
Fulton is 30 years old now and has been active for 10 years, and he is not at the level he was when he beat Figueroa three years ago.
“I feel like I pressured him so much that I turned myself off. I know the box. I have other skills that I didn’t show in that fight [Fulton],” said Brandon Figueroa to fight Hub TV, talking about his February 1 rematch with Stephen Fulton.
Figueroa-Fulton Jr. Punch Statistics 1
– Figueroa landed 314 of 1060 punches for 30%
– Fulton Jr. was 247 out of 668 for 37%
“I feel like I’m going to show off everything. I’m going to show why I’m the best at 126 pounds and just go out there and make a statement. Take a small step back, be patient, and trust my boxing ability a little bit,” said Figueroa about what he felt he should do against Fulton for the first time.
Figueroa will have to use his great boxing skills if he wants to avoid another knockout by Fulton. Once Figueroa’s power improves, he can replicate what Inoue did to Fulton by landing a solid headshot to knock him out, but it will require speed and accuracy.
Figueroa’s last three fights:
– Jesse Magdaleno
– Mark Magsayo
– Carlos Castro
“This time, I know what I have to do. I will work on it in this training camp. He is a great warrior. This is my class, and I want to prove it. Naoya is one of the best, and I’m in this game to fight the best,” said Figueroa about whether he would like to fight Naoya Inoue.
“Beating him will elevate me to one of the best pound for pound players. I’ve been getting a lot of comments from people. Even those who thought Fulton won last time are rooting for me now. I am a very exciting, aggressive fighter. I know that Stephen Fulton will be well prepared and we will give the fans a good show,” said Figueroa.
Stephen Fulton’s latest contests
– Carlos Castro
– Naoya Inoue
– Daniel Romanuch
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