Justin Figueroa put on a show during and after his West Coast debut.
The unbeaten Atlantic City native did ‘the worm’ across the ring in celebration of his third-round knockout victory over Jerome Clayton. Figueroa scored three knockdowns on the night to force the stoppage at 1:57 of the third round Thursday evening on DAZN from Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, California.
The showcase bout on paper was even less competitive in the ring. Figueroa went to work and made his power felt early. Clayton (3-3-1, 3KOs) was dropped twice in round two and didn’t seem eager to fight back.
Figueroa (7-0, 6KOs) closed the show with a final knockdown in round three to return to the knockout column five months after he went the distance for the first time in his career.
Jorge Chavez (9-0. 7KOs) picked up his second consecutive stoppage win after forcing the corner of Jerson Ortiz (17-10, 8KOs) to end their fight after two rounds.
The Tijuana native set a hectic pace early, throwing 110 punches in the opening round. Ortiz spent much of the round behind a high guard and never able to get off his own shots. Chavez floored Ortiz while pinned in a corner, though the Nicaraguan journeyman was able to beat the count and survive the round.
A continued onslaught in round two forced Ortiz’s trainers to pull the plug on the fight prior to the start of round three.
Chavez won five times in 2023, all but one which came inside the distance.
Ricardo Ruvalcaba (11-0-1, 9KOs) remained unbeaten but snapped a five-fight knockout streak in an eight-round, unanimous decision victory over Monterrey’s Irving Macias (15-4, 10KOs). Scores were 80-72, 80-72 and 78-74 for Ventura’s Ruvalcaba, who was forced to overcome a cut from a clash of heads in round five to pick up his fifth win on the year.
Headlining the show, unbeaten 24-year-old prospect Tito Sanchez (11-0, 7KOs) of Cathedral City, California faces red-hot spoiler Walter Santibanes (12-2, 2KOs) in a scheduled ten-round featherweight contest.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
ADD COMMENT VIEW COMMENTS (2)