Brandon Figueroa realizes he cannot attack Mark Magsayo with quite the relentless aggression for which the fan-friendly fighter has become known.
Figueroa figures Magsayo hits too hard for him to take that much of an aggressive approach to their 12-round, 126-pound title fight Saturday night at Toyota Arena in Ontario, California. Figueroa also determined after his close loss to Stephen Fulton two fights ago that his arsenal needed more precise punching and less volume to better convince judges that he wins rounds.
The former WBA and WBC 122-pound champ takes exception, though, to critics that condemn his unconventional style, as if Figueroa merely moves forward without a plan.
“I’m not a dumb fighter,” Figueroa said during a virtual press conference recently. “You know, I know exactly what I’m doing inside the pocket. I know a lotta people say like I have long arms, use ‘em. But when I’m inside, I’m really comfortable. I really know how to work on the inside and I can let off my body shots that I do so well. But yeah, definitely we’ve worked on little things.
“You know, we’re working on getting in there, getting out and not trying to get hit as much because I know Mark Magsayo, you know, he’s a heavy hitter, same as me. But regardless if we were gonna fight him or whoever, you know, this is something that, you know, it’s really good for my style. And, you know, just to better myself as a fighter overall. You know, just getting smarter, working on my defense, speed, offense, jab, everything. We’ve been working on everything, just so we’re prepared for anything that comes.”
Figueroa is a 3-1 favorite to beat Magsayo, according to most oddsmakers, in their fight for the WBC interim featherweight title. The Philippines’ Magsayo (24-1, 16 KOs) lost the WBC featherweight crown in his last fight to Mexico’s Rey Vargas (30-1, 22 KOs), who defeated Magsayo by split decision in their 12-rounder July 9 at Alamodome in San Antonio.
Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KOs), of Weslaco, Texas, became the WBC’s number one contender in the featherweight division by knocking out Phoenix’s Carlos Castro (27-2, 12 KOs) in the sixth round of their eliminator on the Vargas-Magsayo undercard.
The 26-year-old Figueroa has lost only to Philadelphia’s Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs), who beat him by majority decision in their 12-round, 122-pound title unification fight in November 2021 at Park MGM’s Dolby Live in Las Vegas.
Though he’ll exercise more caution against Magsayo than he did during the Fulton fight, Figueroa feels that his unique style will continue to serve him well. He didn’t pay much mind, either, when he was informed that Sean Gibbons, the president of Manny Pacquiao’s promotional company, predicted that Magsayo will become the first fighter to knock out Figueroa.
“That’s what they’ve been saying since the start of my career,” Figureoa said, “that my defense is bad, that I have, you know, a weird style and that I need to work on my defense. But yet, I mean, I’m still here. I’m not saying that I’m here by the skin of my teeth. But, you know, I’ve been working hard and I always work hard.
“And yeah, my dad also compliments my chin, but I know that, you know, I just have to be smarter and better every fight. And I can’t rely on my chin all the time. I know that. I know Mark Magsayo hits hard and, you know, they can say what they say, but at the end of the night, I mean, come fight night they’ll find out if I’m easy to knock out or not.”
Figueroa-Magsayo will headline a “Showtime Championship Boxing” tripleheader that’ll start at 9 p.m. ET.
Jarrett Hurd (24-2, 16 KOs), a former 154-pound champion from Accokeek, Maryland, will meet Mexico’s Armando Resendiz (13-1, 9 KOs) in the 10-round co-feature. In the 10-round opener of the telecast, Elijah Garcia (13-0, 11 KOs), a 19-year-old southpaw from Wittmann, Arizona, will face Uruguayan middleweight contender Amilcar Vidal (16-0, 12 KOs).
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
