By Michael Rosenthal

LOS ANGELES – Brandon Figueroa adopted the nickname “Heartbreaker” because of his good looks. A better moniker might be “Bodybreaker.”

Figueroa passed the biggest test of his career on the Jose Uzcategui-Caleb Plant card Sunday at Microsoft Theater, putting Moises Flores down twice and stopping him at 1:35 of the third round of a scheduled 12-round junior featherweight fight.

Figueroa (18-0, 13 knockouts) pounded a game but overmatched Flores (25-2, 17 KOs) with hard shots to both the body, his specialty, and head during furious exchanges for two-plus rounds.

And then came the decisive blow. A left hook sent Flores to the canvas and hurt him about a minute into the third round. The Mexican was able to get up but he soon collapsed under a barrage of hard punches, which prompted referee Jack Reiss to end to the fight.

The 22-year-old Texan was ranked by both the WBA (No. 5) and IBF (No. 9) going into the fight, which means he’s not far from his first title shot. He has his eye on WBA champ Daniel Roman.

“Break him down and finish him,” Figueroa said immediately after dispatching Flores. “This is exactly how I expected it to go. I knew that he wasn’t going to handle those body shots. My message to Daniel Roman is that I am going to go home and prepare.

“I used that body work. I am really strong. I came in at 110 percent and did my job. I could have done better. I am really hard on myself. I know there are things I can continue to work on and will do that as soon as I get home. I am most definitely ready for a title shot. I am confident and ready." 

The victory for Figueroa follows a knockout of another tough veteran, Oscar Escandon, last September.

Figueroa is the younger brother of former titleholder Omar Figueroa Jr.

Also on the card, junior middleweight prospect Joey Spencer (6-0, 6 KOs) stopped Brandon Harder (2-2, 1 KO) at 1:27 of the second round of a scheduled four-rounder. Spencer put harder down once in the first round and twice more in the second, prompting the referee to end the mismatch.