The WBA has called for Nick Ball to defend his featherweight belt against former two-division titleholder Brandon Figueroa.
The camps have until November 12 to reach an agreement, or else the fight will be sent to a purse bid.
Ball, 23-0-1 (13 KOs), won the title in June 2024 when he defeated Raymond Ford via split decision. But none of Ball’s three defenses since has come against a mandatory challenger.
In October 2024, Ball stopped Ronny Rios (ranked No. 7 at the time) in the 10th round. This past March, Ball scored a 10th-round technical knockout over TJ Doheny (ranked No. 6 at the time). And in August, Ball outpointed Sam Goodman (ranked No. 5 at the time).
“Ball must defend his title against the next leading available contender within nine months from the date he became champion,” says the WBA’s announcement. “Having won the title on June 1, 2024, the mandatory defense became due on March 1, 2025, meaning he must now face Figueroa.”
Figueroa, 26-2-1 (19 KOs), previously held the WBC belt both at 122lbs and 126lbs. Both times, he lost the title to Stephen Fulton – the former in a closely contested battle in November 2021, the latter in a much more dominant Fulton display this past February.
Figueroa returned in July and won a unanimous decision against Joet Gonzalez in a fight that some observers felt could have gone Gonzalez’s way. That fight was an elimination bout for the WBA title.
Figueroa leapfrogs Mirco Cuello for this opportunity. Cuello, 16-0 (13 KOs), defeated Christian Olivo in February – on the same show as Fulton-Figueroa II – in what the WBA’s own website calls a final eliminator. Cuello then made short work of Sergio Rios Jimenez in August for the WBA’s secondary interim belt.
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.
