When is Nick Ball-Brandon Figueroa?
Nick Ball-Brandon Figueroa is on Saturday, February 7. The broadcast will begin at 2 p.m. Eastern Time (7 p.m. GMT).
What channel is Nick Ball-Brandon Figueroa on?
Nick Ball-Brandon Figueroa will stream on DAZN.
Where is Nick Ball-Brandon Figueroa?
The fight is taking place at M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.
Who is Nick Ball?
Nick Ball, 23-0-1 (13 KOs), is the WBA featherweight titleholder. He is making his fourth title defense, and the third in the friendly confines of his hometown of Liverpool.
The 28-year-old has done all of that despite his significant height disadvantage. Or perhaps because of it. At just 5-foot-2, he is a wrecking ball who wears down his opponents with activity and power-punching.
In his first title shot, against Rey Vargas in Riyadh in March 2024, Ball came from behind and scored a pair of knockdowns in the second half of the bout. The judges ruled it a draw, but Ball received another title opportunity less than three months later against Raymond Ford, once again in Riyadh. This time, Ball won the split decision, and so his reign began.
His first defense was a homecoming in Liverpool in October 2024. Ball stopped Ronny Rios in the 10th round, and then did the same thing in the same place to TJ Doheny last March. In his most recent outing, Ball returned to Riyadh and faced Sam Goodman, an undefeated contender venturing up from junior featherweight. Goodman put up a good fight, but Ball triumphed with a unanimous decision.
Ball will be giving up seven inches in height to Figueroa. Figueroa also prefers a fan-friendly style, though, which sometimes involves giving up his size advantage.
Ball’s name had been mentioned in the past as a potential target for Naoya Inoue if the undisputed 122lbs champion were to move up in weight yet again. Inoue of course has a May superfight with Junto Nakatani. With his mandatory challenger out of the way, Ball could instead aim for a voluntary defense or unification against any of his fellow titleholders at 126: Angelo Leo (IBF), Bruce Carrington (WBC) or the fight that we sickos most want to see, Ball against the 6-foot-1 Rafael Espinoza (WBO).
First he needs to get through Figueroa…
Who is Brandon Figueroa?
Brandon Figueroa, 26-2-1 (19 KOs), is a former junior featherweight and featherweight titleholder. Both of his defeats came against the same person: Stephen Fulton. Despite that, it is fair to say that if Figueroa doesn’t defeat Ball, he at bare minimum needs to put forth a good performance to convince people that he still has what it takes to contend.
That may sound harsh for the 29-year-old from Weslaco, Texas. But the outlook on his career isn’t as bright as it used to be.
Figueroa won his first world title in 2021, giving Luis Nery his first defeat by knocking him out with a seventh-round body shot. Figueroa went straight into a unification match with Fulton six months later. It was a very entertaining and closely contested affair, but Fulton left with the majority decision victory and two title belts in his collection.
Figueroa departed 122lbs and headed up to 126. He stopped Carlos Castro in the sixth round in July 2022, and outpointed former titleholder Mark Magsayo for the interim WBC belt in March 2023. Figueroa then defeated an overweight Jessie Magdaleno with a ninth-round knockout.
Figueroa would be upgraded to the WBC’s primary featherweight titleholder when an injured Rey Vargas was named “champion-in-recess.” Once again, Figueroa’s first defense came against Fulton on the February 2025 undercard of David Benavidez vs. David Morrell. Figueroa didn’t look anywhere near as good as in their first fight, while Fulton performed well again, seizing the title with a clear unanimous decision.
Figueroa returned this past July against perpetual bridesmaid Joet Gonzalez on the undercard of Mario Barrios vs. Manny Pacquiao. Figueroa received the unanimous decision win, though many believed a case could be made that Gonzalez deserved the victory.
The win was enough to convince three sanctioning bodies that Figueroa should be ranked highly. That led the WBA to order Ball to defend against Figueroa. But the real job of convincing will need to come in Liverpool. We’ll know on Saturday whether Figueroa belongs back at the top of the featherweight division, if he’s at least still a contender, or if he’s truly on his way down.
What other fights are on the undercard of Nick Ball-Brandon Figueroa?
The undercard includes a featherweight fight between Andrew Cain, 14-1 (12 KOs), and Alejandro Jair Gonzalez, 19-6-3 (11 KOs); as well as a match between junior bantamweights Jack Turner, 13-0 (12 KOs), and Juan Carlos Martinez Urbina, 10-3-1 (4 KOs).
The full list of undercard fights can be seen on BoxRec.
David Greisman, who has covered boxing since 2004, is on Twitter @FightingWords2. David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” is available on Amazon.
