LAS VEGAS – “The Heartbreaker” has a huge heart.

Brandon Figueroa also has the first blemish on his professional record. Mexican veteran Julio Ceja gave the 22-year-old Figueroa the most difficult fight of his career, a back-and-forth brawl in which both boxers bombed away to each other’s head and body for 12 rounds.

When their thoroughly entertaining encounter ended, judge Lisa Giampa had Ceja ahead, 116-112, and judge Glenn Trowbridge scored it 115-113 for Figueroa. Judge Don Trella scored it even, 114-114, which rendered their fantastic fight a split draw on the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz undercard at MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“I think I did win the fight,” Figueroa told FOX Sports’ Heidi Androl during his post-fight interview. “He put on a lot of pressure, but I fought better in the early rounds and I finished strong. I feel like he won maybe four rounds out of the whole fight. I thought I won the first four, and closed out the last few rounds of the fight strong.”

Ceja and Figueroa fought mostly at a blistering pace, and from the inside, throughout their 12-round featherweight fight. They combined to throw an incredible 2,811 punches, according to CompuBox’s unofficial statistics.

Figueroa’s defensive flaws were obvious, but the 22-year-old title-holder also displayed a tremendous chin by taking each of Ceja’s shots without incident.

Figueroa (20-0-1, 15 KOs) was supposed to defend his WBA world super bantamweight title against Ceja (32-4-1, 28 KOs). Once Ceja came in an astounding 4½ pounds over the 122-pound limit Friday, the Mexican veteran was no longer eligible to win Figueroa’s championship.

Even if Figueroa would’ve lost, he wouldn’t have lost his title.

“His body weight was a factor,” Figueroa said. “I couldn’t really move him when I hit him. He didn’t have to drain himself, but we took the fight and we won’t make excuses.

“I basically fought a person in a weight class above mine tonight. I’m pretty sure if he weighed 122, it wouldn’t even be a close fight. We have to run the rematch back, but he better make the weight.”

They traded flush punches to the head and body right up to the final bell, as the 12th round was fought at a pace comparable to the first round. Ceja caught Figueroa with several left hooks during the first minute of the 11th round.

Ceja moved Figueroa backward with a left hook that landed with just over a minute to go in the 10th round.

Figueroa made Ceja retreat with a right hook when there was just over a minute to go in the eighth round. Ceja fended off Figueroa with a brutal body attack toward the end of the eighth round.

Figueroa and Ceja exchanged hard head shots on the inside during the middle of the seventh round.

Ceja nailed Figueroa with a left and then a right with just under two minutes remaining in the sixth round. He snapped back Figueroa’s head with each of those shots, but Figueroa didn’t appear hurt.

Ceja cracked Figueroa with a left hook 25 seconds into the fifth round that knocked Figueroa off balance. Figueroa smiled and fired back a hard left that landed on Ceja.

Ceja hammered away at Figueroa’s body at the midway mark of the third round. That only made Figueroa throw vicious body blows of his own in what became an action-packed final 90 seconds of that round.

Figueroa and Ceja exchanged hard head shots from close distances in an entertaining first minute of the second round.

Ceja connected with a left hook just after the halfway point of the first round. Figueroa withstood that shot and, after absorbing a right uppercut and a left hook to the body, unloaded power punches on a retreating Ceja late in the first round.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.