By: Sean Crose
“It’s great to have my family behind me,” says WBA super bantamweight titlist Brandon Figueroa, “because they understand what I fight for.” At the young age of 23, the 20-0-1 brother of noted past champion Omar Figueroa clearly sees his career as a family affair. “Especially in a career like this,” he says of his family, “it’s not easy, and they help me a lot both mentally and physically. I’m grateful that they support and push me the way that they do.” This Saturday night, however, Figueroa will have to face the 15-1-1 Damien Vasquez at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena essentially alone.
“Training camp for this fight has been going really well,” says Figueroa. “I’ve been sparring a lot with Omar Juarez and a number of guys from here in the Rio Grande Valley. We’ve just been helping each other out, keeping busy and keeping the work rate up.” Figueroa has good reason to be well prepared for the skilled Vasquez, for their fight will be on the PPV undercard of the highly anticipated Charlo Brothers’ Double Header (presented by Showtime and PBC). Figueroa’s last fight, against Julio Ceja last November, ended in a draw. The fighter now aims to impress this weekend.
“Heading into my last fight, he says, “I had some injuries that I was dealing with… but with this pandemic and the quarantine, I got a chance to recover and fully heal. I’ve never had this much time between fights, so I feel great now and I’m prepared for this fight. I’m just anxious to fight at this point.” Not that his last fight was against a tomato can. “I don’t take anything away from Ceja though,” says Figueroa. “He came to fight. But we learn from every fight. What I took away from it was that even at the worst moment of my career, I didn’t lose. I’m a different fighter now, though. I’m healthy heading into this upcoming fight and I feel like everyone is going to see a different type of Brandon Figueroa.”
So confident is Figueroa at the moment that he claims he’s willing to take on pretty much anyone in the super bantamweight realm. “At this point, I feel like any fight with me against a top 122-pounder is a great fight,” says Figueroa. “I’m willing to mix it up with any of them. I honestly don’t care who wants to fight me, I’ll take any of them to put on a great show for the fans. My team knows that as well. So hopefully after September 26 we can make a great fight with any of the other top fighters in my division.”