Notebook: Figueroa, Fulton primed for Saturday's jr. featherweight unification fight

Ugas-Stanionis update; Ancajas-Ioka to unify jr. bantamweight titles; Quigley has surgery; Quick hits; Show and tell; more

Nov 26, 2021

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Junior featherweight world titleholders Stephen Fulton and Brandon Figueroa had no interest in lesser fights or soft defenses.

Instead, they both decided to dare to be great by going after a unification fight in their first defense, agreeing beforehand that if they won their titles earlier this year they would fight each other next, and that is just what will happen on Saturday (Showtime, 10 p.m. ET) at Park MGM in Las Vegas.

Fulton (19-0, 8 KOs), 27, of Philadelphia, rolled to a one-sided decision over then-undefeated Angelo Leo on Jan. 23 to take his WBO 122-pound title.

On May 15, Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs), 24, of Weslaco, Texas, knocked out Luis Nery in the seventh round to take the WBC belt, after which Fulton got into the ring to begin the hype for their showdown that was already set against the winner.

The fight was originally scheduled for Sept. 18 but postponed until Saturday when Figueroa came down with Covid-19. Figueroa said he is healthy now and ready to go.

“I’m just happy it’s fight week finally,” he said. “It’s been a long road with two training camps. Everything is going well and I’ve come back stronger than ever. I feel like it’s going to be fight of the year. I’m coming with everything.”

Fulton had Covid-19 last year, which forced his title shot against Leo to be delayed, so he knows where Figueroa is coming from but he is as confident as could be he will be the one walking away with two of the four major belts. Murodjon Akhmadaliev holds the IBF and WBA titles, which he defended by lopsided unanimous decision over Jose Velasquez last week.

“My resume is better (than Figueroa’s) and I feel comfortable saying that,” Fulton said this week. “I’ve taken risks since the beginning of my career. I’ve faced undefeated fighters that no one wanted to face. I’ve taken the harder road to get to this fight.

“We’re ready to go. Everything is in motion and I’m just extremely prepared. I can’t wait to put on a great performance.”

The significance of unifying titles is one thing Fulton and Figueroa can agree on. It would be a big deal and they know it.

“It would mean everything to become a unified champion,” Figueroa said. “I’m here to represent and to bring back another belt for my city and for my family. It would mean everything to me. That’s why I’ve been working really hard and I know once I accomplish that it would just be another dream come true.”

Said Fulton: “Being unified champion would mean a lot to me. I can become the first unified (junior featherweight) champion from Philadelphia on Saturday night. This win means everything to me.

“People have yet to see the best of me. They’ve yet to see that I like to fight toe-to-toe. I just don’t think this fight is going to last that long. He has the power to wear you down, but I’m the kind of fighter who can overcome anything. I highly believe in my abilities and my intelligence. I’m his biggest fight to date. I’m his biggest test. I’m not like any of the other fighters that he faced before. He knows that and everyone around him knows that. Just watch what I do when I have my back against the wall.”

Figueroa is known more as a brawler than boxer but said nobody should underestimate his skills.

“They think I’m just going to go in there and ‘rock ‘em, sock ‘em robot,’” Figueroa said. “But I’m very intelligent. That’s the reason why I’m undefeated. That’s the reason why I have a lot of knockouts. I’m a great finisher. I know how to put pressure on you. Once he gets hit with a big shot and feels my power, it’s going to totally change this fight.

“He’s wrong if he thinks he’s going to stop me inside nine rounds (as Fulton predicted). Some people say that I have terrible defense, yet I’m still undefeated. I’m still knocking out world champions and former world champions. This will be no different. It’s going to be the same story as always. This fight is going to boil down to guts, to heart, hard work, conditioning. I know we both have a lot to gain. There’s a lot at stake. We’re both in our primes. We’re ready to peak. He’s 27 years old. I’m 24. We’re here doing it.”

Fulton said the winner will be the man who wants it the most and he said that is him.

“The power, the strength and the speed can all die down during a fight,” Fulton said. “All that’s left is who wants it the most. This isn’t just about being unified champion. It’s about this man believing that he can beat me. That’s what motivates me.

“He doesn’t have any quit in him and I appreciate that. I hate quitters and I don’t have any quit in me either. He always fights his fight and applies pressure well. He knows how to use angles and he’s got to this point for a reason. Figueroa is going to engage with me more than most of my past opponents have. Him fighting with the style he likes to use is going to bring out more of what I can do.

“I already know that I’m the top guy at 122 pounds. It’s just a matter of days until everyone will see that.”

There are also two 10-rounders on the televised portion of the card:

Junior featherweight contender Ra’eese Aleem (18-0, 12 KOs), 31, of Las Vegas, who is aiming for a fight with the main event winner, against Eduardo Baez (19-1-2, 6 KOs), 26, a Mexico native fighting out of Calexico, California

Bantamweight Gary Antonio Russell (18-0, 12 KOs), 28, of Capitol Heights, Maryland, who is the brother of featherweight titlist Gary Russell Jr., versus former junior bantamweight title challenger Alejandro Barrios (24-2-5, 13 KOs), 25, of Mexico.

Ugas-Stanionis update

The WBA on Thursday notified all of its registered promoters via email that it has scheduled a purse bid for the fight between welterweight titlist Yordenis Ugas and mandatory challenger Eimantas Stanionis.

According to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by Fight Freaks Unite, the purse bid is scheduled for Dec. 9 in Miami at 11 a.m. ET. The minimum bid is $200,000 and there is a $7,500 fee for any bidder participating. Also, the winning bidder must put up 15 percent of the winning bid immediately.

Ugas is entitled to 75 percent of the winning bid and Stanionis 25 percent. The WBA previously ordered that the fight take place no later than Jan. 15.

The fight is the second of a three-fight box-off the WBA announced recently as part of an overall plan to reduce the number of titles it recognizes in each division.

In the first semifinal, Radzhab Butaev (14-0, 11 KOs), 27, a New York-based Russia native, stopped “regular” titleholder Jamal James (27-2, 12 KOs), 33, of Minneapolis, in the ninth round on Oct. 30 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas.

Next up, Ugas (27-4, 12 KOs), 35, a Cuba native fighting out of Miami, who is coming off an upset decision win on short notice in the first defense of his “super” title against legend Manny Pacquiao on Aug. 21 in Las Vegas, must face Stanionis (13-0, 9 KOs), 27, a 2016 Olympian from Lithuania. The Ugas-Stanionis winner will be ordered to next face Butaev with the winner emerging as the WBA’s lone welterweight titlist.

Junior bantamweight unification

Jerwin Ancajas, the IBF junior bantamweight world titleholder, and WBO counterpart Kazuto Ioka will meet to unify their 115-pound belts on Dec. 31 at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, organizers announced.

Ancajas (33-1-2, 22 KOs), 29, a southpaw from the Philippines, who has held his title since 2016, will be making his 10th defense in by far his biggest fight. Japan’s Ioka (27-2, 15 KOs), 32, a four-division titlist, who will be fighting in his hometown, will be making his fourth defense.

“This is my dream fight. I have waited six years for a signature fight to prove to everyone in boxing that I am one of the best 115 pounders in the world,” Ancajas said. “I have been to Japan, sparring in the past, and love the people of Japan and the boxing fans are some of the best in the world. They respect all fighters and root for the best man to win.”

Joven Jimenez, Ancajas’ manager and trainer, has also long wanted a major fight for his man.

“I have been working with Jerwin since he was 10 years old. I am very excited that finally the fight is happening,” Jimenez said. “My goal, since Jerwin won the IBF world title in 2016, was to get him a major title unification fight. We have worked so hard for this moment, and we will not be denied.”

Canelo-Plant artwork

On Nov. 6, Canelo Alvarez made boxing history when he knocked out Caleb Plant in the 11th round to take his IBF super middleweight title and unify it with his three sanctioning organization belts to become the first-ever undisputed champion in the history of the 168-pound division that was created in 1984. To commemorate the fight, Richard Slone, one of the great artists of our time, was commissioned to paint the official artwork of what the fight might look like, and it was used on the cover of the preview issue of the weekly Boxing News magazine in the United Kingdom. Slone sold the original painting to Germany’s Ingo Wegerich, a huge boxing fan and art collector. He displays his collection on his website and it now includes photos of the gorgeous Canelo-Plant piece. I was happy to contribute the text on his website that goes along with the photos of the painting. Please take a look here: https://wegerich-fineart.com/en/portfolio/canelo-vs-plant/

Quigley surgery

Ireland’s Jason Quigley (19-2, 14 KOs), who challenged Demetrius Andrade for his WBO middleweight title on Nov. 19 in Manchester, New Hampshire, and got knocked out in the second round, suffered a broken jaw and has had surgery.

“I want to apologize to everyone that I didn’t give you more excitement and wasn’t able to put up more of a fight,” Quigley posted to his social media soon after the fight. “Believe me I wanted to. I’m hurting most because I didn’t get the chance to show my full worth and give it more. I suffered a broken jaw in the first round and now it’s time to head home get it sorted and healed. Then we look at what’s next. Congrats Demetrius Andrade on the victory and I hope you get those big fights you deserve.”

After Quigley had surgery he posted an update.

“Surgery on my jaw was a success,” Quigley wrote. “Massive thank you the doctors and nurses for doing such a great job and getting me treated so quick. Thank you everybody for all the well wishes, really so grateful for everybody’s support. Time to rest, recover and heal. Peace out.”

Quick hits

Terence Crawford’s 10th-round knockout of former two-time titlist and good friend Shawn Porter to retain the WBO welterweight title on Nov. 20 at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, which was available only as a $69.99 pay-per-view via ESPN+ (really, $76.98 because before consumers could purchase the fight they had to subscribe to ESPN+ for at least one month) — the first boxing event the be sold that way — generated less than 150,000 buys, sources told Fight Freaks Unite. Crawford, who is now a free agent following the expiration of his contract with Top Rank after the fight, appeared on Porter’s “The Porter Way” podcast this week and said he was disappointed the pay-per-view was only available via ESPN+. “I feel like there was a lot of opportunities left on the table. … Me and Shawn Porter fought on a app. There were so many people that was telling me they don’t know how to get the app on the TV, they don’t know how to do it. And the average elderly or person that doesn’t know tech, they not gonna know how to get the app on the TV. So, what do they do? They don’t buy it.”

After Crawford’s victory over Porter, the biggest of his career, Crawford was asked at the post-fight news conference about his placement in the pound-for-pound rankings and whether he should be ahead of undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, the widely regarded No. 1. “Canelo’s a great talent,” Crawford said. “You got to put him up there at the top. Like I said, my performance (against Porter) would determine whether you put me No. 1 or No. 2. That’s not for me to decide. You know, it’s all opinionated. So, you know, you all make you all opinion, you all assumptions, and you all do what you all do. You all vote on it, and you all tell me who’s No. 1 and who’s No. 2.”

Heavyweight contender Michael Hunter (20-1-1, 14 KOs) and Jerry Forrest (26-4-1, 20 KOs) have agreed to terms for a 10-rounder on the Triller Fight Club card Dec. 2 (FITE) at Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, a source with knowledge of the plans told Fight Freaks Unite. It will be Hunter’s second consecutive fight with Triller. Forrest was already scheduled to box on the card against Joe Jones in an eight-rounder. With Andrey Fedosov (32-3, 26 KOs) a suffering biceps injury and withdrawing this week from his bout on the show against Junior Wright, organizers are now attempting to match Wright (18-3-1, 15 KOs) and Jones (12-4, 9 KOs), who both need an opponent. In other 10-round heavyweight fights on the card, Cassius Chaney (21-0, 14 KOs) meets George Arias (16-0, 7 KOs) and Trey Lippe-Morrison (18-0, 17 KOs), the son of late heavyweight star Tommy Morrison, faces former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun (17-0, 13 KOs).

Promoter Yvon Michel announced Thursday that Kim Clavel (14-0, 2 KOs), 31, of Montreal, suffered an undisclosed injury that has forced her challenge of WBC women’s junior flyweight titlist Yesenia Gomez (19-5-3, 6 KOs), 25, of Mexico, to be postponed. “Kim will have to undergo treatments for the next three weeks. Her WBC title fight is therefore postponed to a later date,” Michel said. The bout was scheduled for the undercard of unified light heavyweight champion Artur Beterbiev’s mandatory defense against Marcus Browne on Dec. 17 (ESPN+) at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Show and tell

After the late legendary Hall of Famer Arturo Gatti and Mickey Ward waged their unforgettable first fight, which Ward eked out by majority 10-round decision, it was obvious there was going to be a rematch. Gatti and Ward, of course, would go on to fight three consecutive times in one the greatest trilogies in boxing history with the first and third bouts garnering wide acclaim as the 2002 and 2003 fight of the year, respectively. Sandwiched in between was the highly anticipated rematch, which may not have been as awe-inspiring as the first and third fights, but it was still pretty damn good even though Gatti dominated another all-action fight. Gatti dropped Ward in the third round and went on to win 98-91, 98-91 and 98-90 to even the series 1-1 and set up the rubber match. Their memorable rematch was on Nov. 23, 2002 — 19 years ago this past Tuesday.

Here are three items from the fight in my collection: a tremendously rare cardboard site poster that was displayed inside Caesars Atlantic City during fight week; my ringside credential to cover the fight for USA Today; and a ticket to HBO’s pre-fight party with the same artwork the network used for its poster (which I also have, along with the program, but was too lazy to dig out to take photos).

Fulton, Figueroa photo: Esther Lin/Showtime; Ugas photo: Ryan Hafey/PBC; Quigley photo: Jason Quigley Instagram

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