Justin Figueroa believes boxing has finally clicked for him, and his recent fight serves as the latest signal that things are trending in the right direction for him.
Figueroa won an eight-round unanimous decision over Jarrod Tennant last Saturday at the Tech Port Arena in San Antonio. The scores were 79-72, 78-73 and 78-73.
Figueroa knocked down Tennant in the first round with a right hand. A 26-year-old from Atlantic City, New Jersey, Figueroa continued on at a fast pace in the second and third rounds, while Tennant, a 40-year-old from Los Angeles, proved to be a tricky veteran, who avoided getting hit clean after being floored in the opening frame.
Tennant had some success landing counterpunches in the fourth round, as the youthful energy of Figueroa saw him spring forward looking to land another big punch that might drop Tennant again. Tennant began to show swelling under his right eye in the fifth round. Figueroa controlled most of the rounds, but Tennant’s ability to counter Figueroa’s aggression made him tough enough to hear the final bell. Figueroa ended the fight with a flurry of punches once he heard the sound the 10-second clappers, capping off the fight.
Figueroa improved to 13-0 (10 KOs), though his four-fight knockout streak ended. Tennant fell to 9-6 (4 KOs) and has now lost three fights in a row, all coming in 2025.
In the co-feature, Justin Pauldo, of Houston, won a 10-round unanimous decision over Said Chino. The scores on all three cards were 100-88. Pauldo, trained by Ronnie Shields, dropped Chino twice in the eighth round. The first time, Pauldo forced Chino to take a knee, and the second knockdown was a left hook to the body that send him to the canvas.
Pauldo, 30, improved to 19-2 (9 KOs), while Chino, a 28-year-old residing in Tennessee, slipped to 25-13-2 (16 KOs).
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
