This Saturday, on the undercard of the highly anticipated clash between unbeaten light heavyweights Benavidez vs. Morrell, the WBC featherweight world title will be on the line as Brandon Figueroa takes on Stephen Fulton at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. This bout is an exciting rematch of their November 2021 encounter in the super bantamweight division. On that occasion, Fulton emerged victorious via Majority Decision after an all-out war, but bookmakers and many experts seem to predict a reversed outcome for this rematch.
So how did Brandon Figueroa manage to claim the role of favorite despite losing their first fight three years ago? The answer lies entirely in what English speakers call “momentum,” and it becomes clear when analyzing what both fighters have done since then.
Figueroa has racked up three consecutive convincing victories, two of them inside the distance, and seems to have found his ideal weight class at featherweight. Fulton, on the other hand, suffered a devastating knockout loss in Japan at the hands of the phenomenal Naoya Inoue and has only fought once since then, securing a narrow and controversial Split Decision win over Carlos Castro in a fight where he was knocked down.
What makes this underwhelming trend particularly concerning is that Fulton, due to his fighting style, desperately needs to be highly motivated and fired up to compete at the highest level. Lacking natural knockout power and not being a pure technician, “Cool Boy” must compensate for these deficits with his mental and physical resilience.
His first fight with Figueroa was a perfect example of this. Up against a naturally bigger opponent who marched forward like a tank, absorbing everything and attempting to overwhelm him, Fulton delivered a courageous and exhausting performance, securing his victory in the two thrilling final rounds. Despite the energy he had already expended, it was he who showed, in those last six minutes, the hunger for victory that defines great champions.
However, that frantic ending also raises doubts about Fulton’s chances of repeating his success this Saturday. Brandon Figueroa possesses an imposing frame even for a featherweight, and it is reasonable to assume that he endured significant physical strain to make the super bantamweight limit. If this aspect contributed to his decline in the final rounds three years ago, the new weight class might allow him to close this rematch even stronger.
In short, a considerable number of factors suggest that we will witness a triumph for the Texan “Heartbreaker” at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. If I had to make a prediction, I would lean in that direction myself. However, I must confess with complete honesty that, more than ever, I hope to be wrong this time.
Stephen Fulton fully embodies what I love about the warrior spirit of boxers. Without possessing knockout power and without mastering the technical skills to dominate opponents with his jab, feints, and movement, the American has often had to adapt round by round to find a way to win—and except for one occasion, he has always succeeded.
The boxing world somewhat turned its back on him after his knockout loss to Inoue, which makes me root for him even more. After all, the Japanese star is a generational talent, one that comes around once every thirty or forty years, and there is no shame in failing to defeat him—especially for someone who had the courage to travel to Japan and face him in a hostile arena.
In just a few days, we will find out whether fate will act rationally, delivering the most expected outcome based on the available data, or if, as sometimes happens in the magical world of the Sweet Science, logic will be swept away by the indomitable fire of a boxer determined to defy the odds.