Featured Articles
Figueroa Ends Ball’s Reign With Late Knockout at Sold-Out Liverpool Arena
Figueroa Ends Ball’s Reign With Late Knockout at Sold-Out Liverpool Arena
A match between two brawlers saw Brandon Figueroa end the WBA featherweight title match with a left hook bomb that disconnected Nick Ball’s consciousness and left him sprawled through the ropes after 11 rounds of ferociousness on Saturday.
“Our strategy worked,” said Figueroa who was trained by Manny Robles. “I’m just happy to be champion again.”
Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KOs) demonstrated his world title capabilities to Liverpool’s rugged Ball (23-1-1, 13 KOs) with a knockout win in front of a sold out crowd at Liverpool, England. It was Figueroa’s third division world title win.
Ball had proved his wrecking ball style of fighting was too much for other featherweight fighters, especially those taller and longer. He had bulled his way to victory to win the world title against Raymond Ford back in June 2024 and defended it three times since.
His rugged approach of storming through taller fighter’s defenses by using his physical strength and bull neck proved too much. Could the taller and lanky Figueroa survive?
Known as the “Heartbreaker”, Figueroa does not use his height and reach like most boxers. Instead, he prefers to fight inside in a southpaw or orthodox manner and slug it out just like Liverpool’s Ball. It was a match between two fighters with similar mauling styles.
“Styles make fights,” warned Figueroa.
Immediately it was evident that Ball was going to muscle and wrestle while pounding away at the head. Figueroa stood his ground and swung away at Ball every time he attacked. Giving ground was not an option.
Though Ball repeatedly held Figueroa’s head with one hand and slugged with the other, he was never warned by the referee. Figueroa, a former bantam and super bantam world titlist never complained. He just kept punching to the head and body and was warned several times for hitting below the belt by the referee.
It was another example of biased British refereeing.
On multiple occasions, Ball charged and held Figueroa’s head while punching. The fighter from Weslaco, Texas never complained and simply kept punching. Both fighters kept punching and, though it was a rugged fight, neither fighter resorted to dirty tactics like head butts or lacing.
It was simply a rough and tumble fight.
Ball repeatedly muscled Figueroa across the ring or threw him to the ground when entangled. But every time he did that he seemed to lose energy and would be gut-punched by the challenger.
By the 10th round Ball’s punch output dwindled and Figueroa began to take control with his swarming style of punching. Though Ball was being out-punched he would retaliate with big single shots. The Texan absorbed every shot with no trace of faltering.
Ball rallied a bit in the 11th round. However, it was clear the energy had drained and Figueroa seemed unaffected by the blows. It was still anyone’s fight to win.
The final round saw both fighters charge forward and swing away with Figueroa duck under and fire a left hook to the chin of Ball and down he went face first on the floor. Somehow Ball got up to beat the count. The fight resumed and Figueroa unloaded six blows that sent Ball reeling through the ropes. The referee immediately waved the fight over at 32 seconds of the 12th round.
Fans erupted angrily at the sudden end and tossed water and debris into the boxing ring. Some felt it was unsportsmanlike to celebrate with Ball still on floor. But soon the crowd quelled and a new WBA featherweight champion was announced.
“He comes to fight,” said Figueroa of Ball. “I just caught him with a short left hook.”
Other Bouts
Andrew Cain survived a vicious body attack that floored him twice and nearly out in the eighth round. He rallied with a rocket attack that downed Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez twice in the ninth and emerged with a miracle knockout to win the bantamweight eliminator.
“Never felt that before. I brought myself up. I’ll never give up,” said Cain about getting floored twice and recovering to win. “I got in a few clean ones and that’s all she wrote.”
Before the end, both fighters showed off their technical prowess and ability to connect on occasion and to avoid big blows. From the beginning Cain was on attack while Gonzalez countered with precision, especially to the body.
Cain was successful with the left hooks but was unable to harm the Mexican fighter or force him to surrender. Instead, Gonzalez proved to be elusive enough to keep Cain from overrunning him with a barrage of blows.
Gonzalez tried different approaches for the first five rounds, but was consistent with shooting jabs to the body. Every so often the Mexican fighter would try overhand rights but few were successful. Cain seemed untroubled by the blows.
It was during the eighth round that Gonzalez mounted a full attack that concentrated on the body of the Liverpool fighter. Suddenly, Cain seemed a little confused and began backing up for the first time in the fight. While pinned against the ropes, Gonzalez targeted the body with a thudding right to the body followed by a left. A few seconds later Cain turned his back, obviously in pain. A few seconds later more body shots followed and down went Cain. He beat the count and the fight resumed and Gonzalez targeted the body again and again. Cain went down again at the end of the round and was saved by the bell.
It could have been over had time remained.
In the ninth round Cain met Gonzalez in the middle of the ring and when the Mexican attempted to launch a leaping left hook, Cain fired his own left hook, a shorter and more compact blow that connected first and dropped Gonzalez for a knock down. The fight resumed and Cain attacked with full intensity and connected five blows to the head that forced Gonzalez against the ropes. A right hand caused a gash on the left eye of the Mexican fighter and it was obvious he was in pain. A few seconds later he went down on one knee and was hit by Cain despite being down. The referee did not penalize Cain for the blow but instead waved the fight over at 1:22 of the ninth round.
It was a great fight and tremendous turnaround for Cain.
Athletically talented super bantam Hassan Ishaq (3-0, 3 KOs) methodically forced the pressure against Argentina’s Leonardo Baez (5-17) before unloaded speedy combinations and severe body shots that dropped Baez in the second and third round. The end came by knockout at 1:39 of the third round with a right hook from Ishaq.
England’s Brad Strand (14-2, 5 K)s) entered the ring against a last-minute foe but had a five-pound weight advantage against Mexico’s Ruben Gonzalez (12-7, 11 KOs). The taller, stronger and heavier super bantam Strand took advantage immediately with stinging shots, while remaining aware of the Mexican fighter’s power. After two rounds of one-sided action, Gonzalez opened up his attack and was caught with a left hook to the body that buckled him. That saw Strand open up a full assault which prompted Gonzalez’s corner to throw in the towel at 1:24 of the third round.
Jack Turner (14-0, 13 KOs) remained undefeated and gathered another win over Nicaragua’s Juan Carlos Martinez (10-4-1) in their super fly match. Turner battered and chased Martinez and forced a technical knockout win at the end of the third round.
To comment on this article in the Fight Forum, please CLICK HERE
