A year after losing a world featherweight title, Brandon Figueroa won another with a dramatic 12th-round stoppage win over Nick Ball on Saturday.
The Mexican-American, known as ‘The Heartbreaker,’ silenced Ball’s home support at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, England, by stopping Ball in the final round to win the WBA world featherweight title.
Ball lost the belt in a fourth defence after a close fight with two-weight world champion Figueroa came to the boil early in the last round when Ball walked on to a left hook.
Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KOs) sent Ball (23-1-1, 13 KOs) to the canvas with a sweeping left hook for a knockdown, and then followed up to seal a TKO win 32 seconds into Round 12 with Ball left hanging through the ropes after a volley of punches.
“I felt like I was dominating, I caught him with a short left hook and then went out there and finished it,” Figueroa, who was ahead on two of the judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage, told DAZN.
“I have been away from my family for three months, I came out here 10 days before the fight and our game plan worked and shoutout to my trainer Manny Robles.
“I want to fight in front of my own fans and I want to unify.”
Victory sets up the possibility of a future world title unification fight for Figueroa against one of the other world champions: Rafael Espinoza (WBO), Bruce Carrington (WBC) and Angelo Leo (IBF).
Since winning the WBA belt with a split decision over Raymond Ford in June 2024, Ball has been one of the best in the 126-pounds division but spent most of the fight on the backfoot against Figueroa.
This was just what 29-year-old Figueroa’s career needed. Figueroa, from Weslaco in Texas, lost the WBC world featherweight title to Stephen Fulton on points a year ago in a rematch, after also losing to his fellow American in a world title unification clash at junior featherweight in 2021.
At five-foot-two, Ball was seven inches smaller than his challenger but he had no problems landing his punches early on.
Ball, 28, from Liverpool, immediately made an impact when he threaded a right uppercut through Figueroa’s guard in the first round. The American got caught by more uppercuts as he stepped forward later in the first, and Ball’s quick combinations again found the target in Round 2.
Southpaw Figueroa had more success in the third, especially to the body, and in the fourth he out-landed Ball with power punches.
Ball landed some nice shots at the end of the fifth, including a looping right hand, and he was the busier in Round 6, too. As Figueroa’s output dipped, Ball took advantage to land screw shots and a reliable jab in the seventh.
Despite his reach and height advantages, Figueroa chose to fight at close range at times, which Ball welcomed in some of the later rounds. Figueroa increased his volume of punches in Round 9 but he got caught on the counter a few times in the 10th.
Perhaps sensing he needed a big finish after a close fight, Ball came out for the last round firing but he was beaten to the punch when he walked on to a huge left hook.
Ball was left facedown on the canvas, but bravely peeled himself back up only for Figueroa to send him crashing through the ropes with a flurry of punches. Referee Steve Gray then stopped the fight with Ball draped over the ropes.
