By Ryan Songalia

It seems that the only thing that Francisco "El Gato" Figueroa and Randall Bailey can agree upon regarding their single sparring session is that it took place in 2007 at Contenders Boxing Gym in Fort Lauderdale, FL. After that, they differ in their recollections of that evening.

"I had done four rounds with Richard Gutierrez and then he came in and did two rounds and got out. Quick. I dunno, he did not want to do much," said Bailey, 38-6 (34 KO).

"I got proof to show that I was in with him for four rounds," counters Figueroa, 20-2 (13 KO). "We did a good sparring session. I got the best of him, though. I've gotten better since then.

"But if he wants to talk junk, he can talk junk. If he wants to start acting up I'll ring the bell right now."

On Friday night, both men will enter the ring in the Pepsi Pavilion in Memphis, TN seeking the mandatory spot to challenge IBF light welterweight champ Juan Urango, who won the vacant belt with a close decision win over Herman Ngoudjo in January.

Bailey, a grizzled 34-year-old veteran, is looking at what might be his final shot to regain a world title. Figueroa, a young 30-year-old, is seeking his first championship opportunity. The fight will be featured on ESPN2's Friday Night Fights.

Bailey, of Miami, FL, had his first brush with championship glory nearly a decade ago, knocking out Carlos Gonzalez in 41 seconds to capture the WBO title. He made two successful defenses before dropping a split-decision to Ener Julio. Leading up to his first loss, he was 21-0 (21 KO).

A year and a half later he would hold the interim "ordinary" WBA title after a frightening knockout over Demetrio Ceballos that made people take note.

"Back then I won the title so easy so it didn't mean as much as it does right now. I didn't have to fight any eliminators, I just fought for the title and won. Trust me, I've worked very hard to get back into the position to be champion again. I didn't appreciate it as much as I did back then as I will right now."

He'd lose his next fight on a body shot to Diosbelys Hurtado, beginning an uneven streak where he lost four out of seven fights, punctuated by a crushing TKO defeat to Miguel Cotto.

At that point, even the most optimistic supporters began to think the end of the road was upon Bailey. However, in the five years since then, he has gone 10-1 (7 KO). His last win, this past October against Demarcus Corley, reversed a decision loss he had sustained in 2003.

Even with his latest surge, Bailey can sense this might be his final round at the Last Chance Saloon.

"It don't really look like I'll get too many shots like I've been getting so it could look that way. Me myself, I'm just looking forward to taking advantage of the opportunity in front of me. I'm not thinking about this being my last chance. I won't be complete until the belt is around my waist again."

This will be his third fight under the promotional banner of New York-based Dibella Entertainment.

Figueroa, of the Bronx, NY, is also in the early stages of a promotional contract, his with Roy Jones Jr.'s Square Ring Promotions. Though he is only four years younger than Bailey, he doesn't have anywhere approaching the sort of mileage on him that Bailey does - largely due to his late start in the sport.

Figueroa had a brief amateur career consisting of 16 bouts, highlighted by a NY Golden Gloves title in 2001. He turned professional and picked up two early losses but has been unbeaten in his last twelve starts.

Though lacking in the big-fight experience department, Figueroa got a crash course in big-time boxing in his last fight against Emmanuel Augustus. The cagey veteran pulled every trick he possibly could out of his sleeves to unnerve the "Nuyorican" in his own backyard, with varied results. At the end of the night Figueroa walked away with a split-decision - undeservingly so in some opinions.

"[Augustus] hit me up on Myspace and told me that beating him makes everybody else easy. Not that I'm looking over Randall Bailey but he's nowhere near as experienced as Augustus."

While the styles of Figueroa and Augustus didn't mesh well, Figueroa believes this fight will be more aesthetically pleasing to the fans.

"The styles match well, he's aggressive and I'm a boxer-counter puncher but if I have to I'll put the pressure on and crack him.

"I'm going to try and crack his will. He has a strong force in the first couple rounds. I'm going to wear him down and then start to dominate him."

Bailey, unsurprisingly, sees the fight going a little differently.

"I don't expect him to fight me like he's fought everybody else. Everything he comes to the ring with I'm going to adjust to quickly. I'm not really worried about what he's going to do. I'm just worried about doing what I have to do. Friday it's going to be a different Figueroa that shows up but I'm just looking forward to that fight."

Bailey attributes his career rejuvenation to working with John David Jackson, the former world champion who now handles Nate Campbell and Allan Green.

"John has brought a whole different life to my fight game. We are all like family. He just wants to see me do my best and he gives me everything he's got. When I get in the ring, I just try to do my best to show him that I'm learning everything that he's teaching."

Bailey says that Jackson has helped him develop other areas of his game that had been neglected in the past, like using his boxing skills and working the body as opposed to simply head-hunting.

"A lot of trainers looked at my power early and they based that as my only asset. If I didn't knock people out then I wasn't winning. Me myself, I knew there was more to me than knocking people out.

"I think I'm a more complete, mature fighter now. I kinda feel better now than I did when I was younger.

"At the stage I'm at right now, I'm learning more than I've ever learned before. When you're learning, it's more exciting to fight. I just want to show my progress. That's what keeps me going on."

This will be Figueroa's first fight back with trainer Eggie Martinez of Miami since parting ways with Buddy McGirt. "I just felt my chemistry with my trainer was better. Now I know that I'm able to focus on the fight rather than if I have enough conditioning to finish the fight."

Figueroa hopes his sparring experiences for this fight will help negate Bailey's power advantage. For this camp he sparred with middleweight Angel Martinez. Figueroa recounts that he sparred 14 rounds in one day with Martinez and a total of 33 in a single week.

Bailey's chief sparring partner for this camp was Damian Frias, a 32-year-old southpaw with a 16-1 (7 KO) record.

Thursday morning, a few hours ahead of the weigh-in, Figueroa did something that he never had done prior to stepping on the scales: He drank a small coffee and had a few bites of some egg whites with mushrooms. While it sounds insignificant to most, Figueroa had never had the luxury of eating breakfast before weighing in, indicative of how seamless camp had been.

The official weights read 139.4 for Figueroa, 139.6 for Bailey.

The IBF champ whom both men strive to meet is scheduled to move up in weight and face WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto on May 30. According to IBF championship chairman Lindsey E. Tucker, Jr., Urango would have 7-10 days to decide whether he wants to stay at welterweight and vacate the title or return to 140 pounds and face the winner of this fight.

"We don't penalize our champions for moving up in weight to challenge for titles," said Tucker when asked whether they are considering stripping Urango. "If you remember, we had a junior middleweight champion in Cory Spinks who went up and fought Jermain Taylor for the middleweight title and returned to defend his belt at 154 pounds. Either way, the Figueroa-Bailey winner will have to fight again for the title, either against Urango or someone else if it's vacated."

So while this fight is not quite a title shot, it takes on a similar significance in their careers.

Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. You can reach him at songaliaboxing@aol.com or at www.boxingscene.com/ryansongalia.