Figueroa drills Nery to set up September unification vs. Fulton

Roman, Martinez also win on action-packed Showtime card

In the biggest fight of his career, Brandon Figueroa scored a resounding knockout to secure his place in an even more significant fight on Saturday night.

Figueroa knocked out Luis Nery with a left hand to the ribs in the seventh round to take his WBC junior featherweight title in the main event of a Showtime tripleheader at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.

“It feels amazing, this is a dream come true,” Figueroa said. “I know everyone doubted me, but here I am with the belt. It's all thanks to hard work and dedication. You saw tonight what I can do. I brought it to him and the hard work paid off. We did our homework. We did a great job in the gym and just took it to him.”

With the victory, Figueroa, who also retained his WBA secondary 122-pound belt, powered his way into a title unification fight with WBO titlist Stephen Fulton, which will headline a Showtime card on Sept. 11 at a site to be determined. When Nery-Figueroa was made both agreed to face Fulton next if they won.

Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs), 24, of Weslaco, Texas, and Nery (31-1, 24 KOs), 26, of Mexico, fought a competitive fight all the way until Figueroa landed the big blow.

The fight was even at the time of the knockout with one judge having Figueroa ahead 58-56, one having Nery, a former bantamweight titlist making his first junior featherweight defense, ahead 59-55 and one having it 57-57.

Even though Figueroa was the taller, longer fighter, he elected to go right at Nery and fight him on the inside. He took some big shots for his trouble and Nery appeared to control the early rounds, but Figueroa remained resolute in his strategy and it paid off in the seventh round when he forced Nery back and unloaded several hard shots. One of them was a left hand that caught Nery on the ribcage. He went down on a delayed reaction and referee Thomas Taylor counted him out at 2 minutes, 18 seconds.

According to CompuBox statistics, Figueroa landed 177 of 648 punches (27 percent) and Nery connected with 209 of 608 (34 percent). Of Nery’s landed shots, 76 were body blows while Figueroa landed only 11 body shots, but the final one was the one that counted most.

“The plan was to break him,” Figueroa said. “(Trainer) Joel Diaz told me to pressure him and that he wouldn't last. That's exactly what happened. I knew he was getting tired. He was trying to box me. I saw him breathing heavy. My team just said it was time to go get him.”

And now it is on to unify against Fulton (19-0, 8 KOs), 26, of Philadelphia, who handily outpointed Angelo Leo on Jan, 23 to win his title.

“We've been waiting for this fight against Fulton and it’s finally gonna happen,” Figueroa said. “I knew I had to get through Luis Nery first. Everything has it's time. I envisioned that I was going to beat Nery and now I see myself beating Fulton. I know he's coming with everything he's got and that we're gonna give the fans a hell of a show.”

Fulton joined Figueroa in the ring and they shared a good natured exchange but Fulton was also very confident of victory.

“Hell of a performance by Brandon tonight,” Fulton said. “That's what I predicted would happen. This is my time now though. I've been waiting for this moment to finally fight Brandon. I knew that Brandon would fight how he always fights. I'm just ready for my time against him. We're going to put on a hell of a performance. Congratulations to him tonight, but I'm coming next.”

Roman outslugs Espinoza

In an action-packed slugfest, former unified junior featherweight world titlist Daniel Roman stayed on course for another title shot as he pounded out a rough, tough unanimous decision over Ricardo Espinoza.

Los Angeles’ Roman, fighting in front of a hometown crowd, won 98-92, 98-92 and 97-93 for his second victory in a row since losing his unified belts by split decision to Murodjon Akhmadaliev in January 2020.

As the fight wore on Roman (29-3-1, 10 KOs), 31, began to break down Espinoza and bloodied his face. His face was so busted up that a timeout was called at the beginning of the ninth round so the ringside doctor could examine him.

“He was bleeding, he was hurt. But he came to fight,” Roman said. “He came to die in the ring. He has a lot of guts, but it was my night. He was open for those uppercuts. I adjusted to his fighting style. He was more aggressive than I thought he would be, but then when I adjusted, those uppercuts were there for me all night.”

With Espinoza (25-4, 21 KOs), 23, of Mexico, vanquished, Roman wants another title shot.

“This win is a step closer to getting back on top and getting a world title once again,” Roman said. “I knew he was a tough fighter who hit hard, so I had to fight smart and make adjustments. I started to get my distance and started fighting my fight and controlling the ring. Once I did that, everything started to fall into place. I was surprised he went the distance, but he has a lot of heart. He’s a tough fighter.

“I’m the (WBC) mandatory, so I want a title shot now. I still got it, I am still up there. I am just waiting to get back on top. I still want the rematch (with Akhmadaliev). I still have unfinished business in ‘MJ’. I don’t know what he’s got scheduled but I will take that fight.”

Martinez outpoints Burgos

In the opening bout, Sacramento, California, junior lightweight Xavier Martinez (16-0, 11 KOs), 23, took a hard-fought but lopsided unanimous decision from former featherweight world title challenger Juan Carlos Burgos (34-5-2, 21 KOs), 33, of Mexico.

All three judges scored the bruising fight 99-91, but the wide scores did not illustrate just how competitive the fight was round after round.

“I wasn’t surprised he came forward. He’s a tough competitor,” Martinez said. “I thank him for taking the fight. He was tough as hell. These kinds of fights are going to help me get better. It was a fun fight. I know the fans enjoyed the fight. I thought I could have done better, but I was landing clean, hard shots throughout. Even when he was throwing, I was slipping a lot of them and catching him. I showed I can hang in there with tough fighters.

“I could have boxed him more but I wanted to give the fans action. There’s nothing to complain about. I got the victory. I made it tougher on myself, but I will learn from it. It’s back to the drawing board but it’s a great victory.”

Burgos, who took the fight on about two weeks’ notice as a replacement for Mexico’s Abraham Montoya (20-2-1, 14 KOs), who had visa issues, didn’t try to argue he won the fight but he was disappointed the judges gave him so little credit.

“I was shocked. I was surprised. I did not think I only won one round,” Burgos said. “The public opinion and the fact that the fans were booing (when the decision was announced) is what I take with me today. The fans spoke louder than the cards. I am glad to have given them an exciting fight.”

“Many people don’t know that I was brought in on late notice. Just two weeks in advance. That’s not an excuse but just the reality. Martinez fought a hell of a fight. He is definitely one of the best opponents I have ever faced.”

Buatsi drills Dos Santos

British light heavyweight up-and-comer Joshua Buatsi, in his first fight under the guidance of trainer Virgil Hunter, showed his new cornerman exactly what he wanted to see in a devastating fourth-round knockout of Daniel Blenda Dos Santos on Saturday at AO Arena in Manchester, England.

Buatsi (14-0, 12 KOs), 28, a 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, landed a right hand-left hook combination to floor Dos Santos in the second round, after which Dos Santos (15-1, 8 KOs), 30, of France, appeared to simply try to survive.

Buatsi did not let him hang around for long. In the fourth round, Buatsi knocked Dos Santos out cold with a right hand and then drilled him with another right hand as his limp body collapsed to the mat, causing referee Victor Loughlin to immediately stop the fight without a count at 2 minutes, 44 seconds.

“I hope he’s OK,” Buatsi said. “We’ve seen this happen to many fighters. You box someone they say you’re levels above and it’s a banana skin situation. I’m glad I handled it. The most important thing is I hope he’s OK. We’ve seen these type of fighters come and cause upsets recently and I was adamant it wasn’t going to happen to me. I’m glad it went well.”

Buatsi was pleased with his first outing under Hunter, the noted trainer best known for his work with Hall of Famer Andre Ward.

“Virgil gave me the perfect instructions and I followed them,” Buatsi said. “I haven’t got here by being given it. The little that I’ve earned, I had to work hard for it. I thank God for everything that we’ve got but I work hard for it. When I step in that ring it’s a dog mentality. This is a fight. I’m here to take everything. We’re here to win but we’re not here to hurt anyone.”

Russell added to Oubaali-Donaire

Blue chip prospect Gary Antuanne Russell will face Jovanie Santiago in a 10-round junior welterweight bout on May 29 in the opener of a Showtime tripleheader (10 p.m. ET) at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California, the network and Premier Boxing Champions announced on Saturday.

The fight was added to the previously announced card headlined by the rescheduled fight between WBC bantamweight titlist Nordine Oubaali and former titlist Nonito Donaire, the four-division world champion, and Subriel Matias facing Batyr Jukembayev in an IBF junior welterweight title eliminator.

Russell (13-0, 13 KOs), 24, a southpaw form Capitol Heights, Maryland, who is the younger brother of featherweight world titlist Gary Russell Jr., was a 2016 U.S. Olympian. He will be facing his most notable opponent so far.

“I’m following in the footsteps of a champion, my older brother Gary Russell Jr.,” Russell said. “Our bloodline is strong. I’m among a bloodline of royalty. It’s only natural that I’m walking in his footsteps towards becoming a champion of my own. I’m looking forward to May 29. Another one bites the dust.”

Santiago (14-1-1, 10 KOs), 31, of Puerto Rico, came out of obscurity on Feb. 20 and gave former four-division world titlist Adrien Broner a very tough fight at welterweight in a unanimous decision loss many thought he won.

“I always train very hard regardless of my opponent, and that’s no different this time for Russell,” Santiago said. “Everyone saw what I did against Broner. Now fighting at 140 pounds, I’m going to continue to show what I can do in this division. My opponent is strong, but I’m ready for whatever he brings. My performance will get me noticed for sure.”

Showtime card photos: Esther Lin/Showtime; Buatsi photo: Mark Robinson/Matchroom Boxing