Brandon ‘The Heartbreaker’ Figueroa 23-1-1 (18) made a successful featherweight debut as he scored a sixth-round knockout victory of Carlos Castro 27-2 (12) at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday night.
In his first bout since losing his WBC super bantamweight title to WBO champion Stephen Fulton 21-0 (8) by majority decision last November, Figueroa was back to his aggressive best, walking forward and throwing power shots with both hands.
Castro, 28, was game and had his moments, but the pressure of Figueroa eventually wore him down. In the third round he was sent to the canvas but he battled his way back into the fight only to be spun onto the ropes in the sixth where Figueroa unleashed a barrage of blows. It was enough for referee Mark Nelson to step in and stop the contest at the 2:11 mark.
CompuBox had Figueroa outlanding Castro in power punches 132 to 118 while Castro led in the jab department 32 to 17. Overall Figueroa was the busier of the two with 485 punches for 149 connects, compared to Castro’s 383 punches for 150 connects.
At the time of the stoppage judges Jesse Reyes and David Sutherland had Figueroa ahead by scores of 49-45 and 48-46 respectively. Judge Tim Cheatham saw it the other way with a 48-46 scorecard for Castro.
“I know Carlos Castro is a crafty fighter,” the 25-year-old Figueroa said. “I had to be patient. I knew how to put the pressure on him, after the barrage of punches, I got tired and had to step back. I knew he was hurt. and I had him, and I had to put more pressure on him. I caught him clean with a good looping left hand and I had him, I just put punches together and I dropped him.”
“Carlos Castro has a lot of heart, he’s a proven fighter in the ring and I knew it would be hard to get him out of there,” said Figueroa. “I hurt him, I was waiting for that shot to the body, once I caught him clean, I knew he was hurt. I put my punches together again.”
The fight was billed as a WBC final eliminator with the winner in line for face newly minted champion Rey Vargas 36-0 (22) who outpointed Mark Magsayo 24-1 (16) in the main event of the evening.
“I’m pretty proud of myself,” said Figueroa. “I know there’s a lot of work ahead of me, especially if I fight [Rey Vargas]. I have to study my fight and get back to the gym.”
