By Ryan Songalia
On November 11, Francisco "El Gato" Figueroa will contend in his most pivotal fight to date. That night, on the undercard of HBO's presentation of the Wladimir Klitshcko-Calvin Brock heavyweight title fight, Figueroa will square off against fellow Bronx resident Joey Rios in defense of Gato's New York State Junior Welterweight title in Madison Square Garden. Figueroa is one of the city's best kept secrets, with his slick southpaw style, flashy moves, and heavy-handed assaults helping to make him a fan favorite in the metropolitan area. I recently spoke with Figueroa, catching up with him about his thoughts on his upcoming fight and getting to know the New Yorican boxer.
BoxingScene.com: Gato, how has training camp been going for your fight with Joey Rios?
Gato Figueroa: "It's been going very smooth here in Miami. I've got a lot of love for my team. I've been getting the proper world class championship status sparring over here. I want to thank Lamar Murphy who has been helping me in preparation for Joey Rios."
BoxingScene.com: What are your thoughts on Joey Rios as a fighter?
Figueroa: "I like Joey as a fighter, he;s very technical, he has very basic fundamentals. He's in very good condition."
BoxingScene.com: What does this fight mean to you and your career?
Figueroa: "In the big picture, it takes me from being an up and coming prospect to legitimate contender status."
BoxingScene.com: How has the sparring been, I hear you've been beating people up, what's good with that?
Figueroa: "Sparring has been going very great. Like I said, I've been getting quality sparring with my sparring partners who are Antoine Smith, who is an up and coming welterweight prospect. I've been sparring with David Estrada, who fought "Sugar" Shane Mosley. I've also been sparring with world contender veteran Lamar Murphy."
BoxingScene.com: The Rios fight is scheduled for November 11, exactly two years since your last loss to Francisco Rincon in my new hometown of Poughkeepsie. How has that fight changed the way you conduct yourself in the ring, and how has it affected your mentality as a fighter?
Figueroa: "What that fight has done for me is it has opened my mind. The ego goes out the door. When you get stunned in this game, it's not called you fight back to get points, it's called recover until your mind is in focus, then you get back in the game. Don't act like you didn't get hurt and try to fight somebody. If you get hurt, you get hurt. You shake it off until you get back in motion.
What it's also doen for me is helped me prepare for longer training. When I fought Rincon, I only trainer two weeks for that. I thought I could go in their with my natural abilities and do what I got to do, but that wasn't the case. It helped me prepare to stay more focused in my training methods and also recover when you get stunned in a flash knockdown."
BoxingScene.com: This will be your first time fighting at Madison Square Garden as a professional. What does it mean to you to be fighting at the Mecca of Boxing?
Figueroa: "This is a big step up for me, my support, and my fans because I get alot of requests from people 'Why don't you fight at the Garden?'. To go immediately to the Garden, it's a very honorable position for me. I was rooting for my friend Paulie Malignaggi when he fought Cotto at the Garden. To see all the Puerto Rican fans cheer, I thought 'You know what, I should be in that spot.' That motivated me to do what I had to do and then Voila, a couple of months later, you asked for it, then here you go."
BoxingScene.com: Since the Rincon fight, you've run off a five fight win streak. Walk us through those fights and how they have positively affected you.
Figueroa: "During those fights, I gained two belts. I gained the Mundo Hispano belt and the New York State belt. Basically, it put me back on the map where not only did I come back, I had faced people with good records not no slouches or bums. Alot of people come back with bums, I came back with good fighters.
For instance, Leo Martinez, I knocked him out but the fight after, he beat some guy who was 12-2 (former IBF Featherweight titlist Eric Aiken). Then I fought Justin Green, he was pretty good, I knocked him out in three rounds on the undercard of a Joey Rios fight. Then I fought Hector Alejandro for the New York State Title. He's very similar to Joey Rios, he's a very technically sound fighter, he's got the dedication, I wound up knocking him out. Then I fought Maximino Cuevas, who I fought at 145. That was my toughest fight besudes Rincon. When the smoke cleared, I won. Basically I went into the ring like nothing happened with Rincon."
BoxingScene.com: You have a new promotional deal now. How has your new team helped to advance your career?
Figueroa: "They had signed me when the opportunity with Joey Rios came. I had brought it up with my promotional team and they did their research and asked me what do I think about him. I said I know Joey and I think I can beat him. They asked how bad, and I said I think I can knock him out. They said OK, if that's what you think, let's do it. So they immediately brought me down to Miami and we did sparring, chiropractic, nutrition, strength and conditioning coach. They provided me with anything I needed, food, I never had that before."
BoxingScene.com: Who are your heroes who have molded you into the kind of person who could be a top contender?
Figueroa: "Before I got into boxing, I wasn't big into boxing. The only person I probably knew was Mike Tyson like everybody else did. Just lately, like 6-7 months ago when I got my laptop, people were telling me that I reminded them of Camacho Sr. and Pernell Whitaker. I had heard of them, but I didn't know what style they had.
When I went to Youtube and looked them up, I was like 'Damn, I got the speed of Camacho, but I got the movement of Whitaker with the power of Duran." As of now, my idols are those three people: Roberto Duran, Pernell Whitaker, and Camacho."
BoxingScene.com: Describe to us your amateur background.
Figueroa: "The highlights are that I won the Golden Gloves after 7 months of me starting boxing at the age of 22. About 2 1/2 years later, I was ranked number 4 in the nation and lost a controversial decision to Juan McPherson. I wended up beating James Parrison in the quarter-finals. I ended up as the runner-up in my second year of the Golden Gloves. My record was 14-2."
BoxingScene.com: With your brief amateur experience, I understand that you decided to take some work as a sparring partner to gain some experience. Elaborate about the experience you gained in sparring with elite fighters.
Figueroa: "I've sparred Arturo Gatti, Vivian Harris, Ricky Hatton. What I learned from that is that it showed me where I was in the game with not having as much experience as these guys had. It showed me that with Arturo Gatti and Ricky Hatton that I had to move alot because these guys are relentless and my defense had to be on point. With Vivian Harris, it showed me how to move alot body-wise because he's a long dude from the outside."
BoxingScene.com: Should all go according to plan November 11, what is your next move?
Figueroa: "I'm going to Disneyland! (laughs) My next step will be HBO or ESPN."
BoxingScene.com: "Joey Rios is also from the Bronx. What does it mean to you to state your claim as the top junior welterweight in the Bronx?
Figueroa: "The Bronx is about bragging rights. Joey Rios is going to a war, I'm going to a battle. This is just another guy with a good record who I'm going to dominate. Basically, I'm going to let people know that I'm the real deal. I'm talking the game because Gato talks and speaks the game."
BoxingScene.com: Do you have a prediction for your next fight?
Figueroa: "Definitely a knockout in the seventh."
BoxingScene.com: You have an interesting term for one of your tactics, "flowboating". Explain to us what that means.
Figueroa: "Flowboating is something I came up where people were saying "Gato, you showboat too much." I'm thinking I'm not showboating. Showboating is paying attention to the crowd or mocking footwork or things that are irrelevant to boxing. Flowboating to me is the movement of defense that makes opponents miss. It's a combination of my movements of spinning and heel-toeing.
BoxingScene.com: You have strong ties to your community in the Bronx. What kinds of community sevices do you participate in?
Figueroa: "I'm actually an advocate for a program called The Fresh Air Fund, which is a program that helps minority kids leave the city and gead to people who voluntarily take the minority kids to their homes. This program is in 13 states, including Canada. I was brought up from the ages of 6-17 and still see my family every other year. In this program, I learned how to ski, milk cows, I had my barn chores. I had school up there for a year, I received an attendance award for not missing a day of school.
I was an altar boy, I had my communion after that. I'm there spreading the word out there, any kids who come up to me I take my time whether I'm at a fight or on the street. Kids have my attention first grab, they come before adults because adults are hard to change. Kids you can role model to a certain area, whether it's boxing or anything that is positive. If they want to learn more about the program, they can go to www.freshair.org ."
BoxingScene.com: I recall that you have done a few expos in which you drop your hands and perform defensive maneuvers where you allow people to take swings at you for prizes. Is that for publicity or is you just exercising your confidence in your abilities?
Figueroa: "It's actually both. I've done a couple of expos, 2 in the Bronx and once in Manchester, England. It started in Manchester. I was in Ricky Hatton's camp and I got praised during open workouts. I had three amateur gyms that wanted me to go speak to the kids. So I went by for and for some reason I said let's play 'Catch the Gato' (Catch the Cat). Sine if tge anateurs tried to catch me. I had my hands midway and I flowboated. For some reason, I can feel puunches coming. After every expo, I talked to the kids about boxing, about how old I am, I never sold drugs, I don't use the ghetto life to get me ahead. Yeah, I had a bad life, but I don't do no drugs, I didn't break into no cars, the Fresh Air Fund helped me out."
BoxingScene.com: Here's the part of the interview I call The Thirty Second Drill. You get to take off the gloves and put on your promoter's hat. In thirty seconds, sell this fight to the public.
Figueroa: "Come see Gato Figueroa do his thing. Everybody's talking about boxing is on the down low. Well, here's a guy coming from the Bronx, NY who is 13-2 with 10 KO's, who's very flambouyant, who is a power hitter, who is very quick and he has alot of abilities. Agility to do what I got to do. Joey Rios is a very basic boxer, I'm gonna land an overhand and put him out within seven rounds, call it a day because it's going to be a very exciting fight. As Don King says, this is America and this is how it gets done. You guys want to see a great fighting show, then come by. You got Laila Ali doing her thing, Wladimir Klitschko, Kevin Kelley, you can't ask for no more. Tickets are at a great price and what more can you ask for? You have four main events in a row. It's going to be off the wall exciting, explosive, you guys have to come."
BoxingScene.com: In conclusion, is there anything you'd like to say to the public in general?
Figueroa: "I want to thank my fans Team Gato for being there for me through the inactivity, through the activity, for helping me and pushing me as a motivator. I'd like to thank my critics for talking alot of trash because I like talking trash. I use it as fuel, as gas, they push me. My supporters are the ones that guide me. I want to thank BoxingScene and PhilBoxing PacLand. I want to thank the Filipino fans who are going to research me at www.Gatofigueroa.com, where they can see a four minute highlight of my fighting style. If they like Pacquiao, they're gonna like me. I want to thank my critics, fans, the Fresh Air Fund for changing my life and Team Rios for taking a fight they're going to lose."
Any questions or comments? Send them to my e-mail at mc_rson@yahoo.com