By Mark Eisner: WBA super bantamweight champion Brandon “Heartbreaker” Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs) wore down and stopped previously unbeaten WBC 122-lb champion Luis Nery (31-1, 24 KOs) by a seventh round knockout on Saturday night in the headliner on Showtime at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
The bigger and younger fighter Figueroa dropped the 26-year-old Nery with a body shot in round seven. The fight was then halted.
The time of the stoppage was at 2:18 of the seventh. With the win, Figueroa will be fighting WBO belt-holder Stephen Fulton next in September in a clash that will have three titles on the line.
Boxing News 24 undercard results:
- Former IBF/WBA 122-lb champion Danny Roman (28-3-1, 10 KOs) looked sensational tonight in picking up his second consecutive win in defeating the young lion Ricardo ‘Hindu’ Espinoza (25-4, 21 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The scores were 97-93, 98-92, 98-92. Boxing News 24 scored it 98-92 for the 31-year-old Roman. The 23-year-old Espinoza started off well, showing off his punching power, but Roman took control of the fight after the second round by timing the younger fighter. Roman used his jab expertly to catch Espinoza as he was coming in. In the second half of the fight, Espinoza lost some of the zip on his shots due to fatigue, which made things easy for Roman to cruise to a comfortable 10 round decision. Roman connected on 220 of 756 punches for a connect percentage of 29. For his part, Espinoza landed 190 of 724 shots for a 26% connect rate. For Roman, this is his second victory since losing his IBF/WBA super bantamweight titles last year to Murodjon Akhmadaliev by a 12 round split decision.
- In an exciting fight that was surprisingly competitive, unbeaten super featherweight contender Xavier Martinez (17-0, 11 KOs) had to work hard to defeat 17-year veteran Juan Carlos Burgos (34-5-2, 21 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision. The scores were 99-91, 99-91, 99-91. Although the scores were one-sided, the rounds were all quite close with a lot of back and forth action from the two warriors. It wasn’t supposed to be a competitive fight, but Burgos didn’t turn up just for a paycheck. Martinez’s stock drops a little from the fight because he didn’t look all that great despite winning it by a wide set of scores. For Martinez to have a chance of beating Shakur Stevenson and Oscar Valdez at 130, he’s going to need to improve dramatically.
- Light welterweight Justin Cardona (5-0, 4 KOs) beat James De Herrera (4-7, 3 KOs) by a first-round knockout. Cardona showed off his excellent power in knocking De Herrera down three times in the first round before the match was stopped. The time of the stoppage was at 1:20.
- In a woman’s super flyweight clash, Gabriela Fundora (1-0) defeated Jazmin Medina (2-2, 2KO) by a four-round unanimous decision. Fundora knocked Medina down in the second round with a big right hand. The scores were 40-35, 39-36, 40-35.
- Lightweight prospect Jose Valenzuela (8-0, 5KO) destroyed Nelson Hampton (7-4, 4KO) by a first-round knockout. The fight was halted after Valdenzuela unloaded with a flurry of shots that sent the 28-year-old ‘Hot Hands’ Hampton down on the canvas. The referee had to pull the plug on the fight right away, a Hampton was hurt. The time of the stoppage was at 2:59 of round one.
The undefeated Nery (31-0, 24 KOs) only recently won his WBC 122-lb title last September with a harder-than-expected 12 round unanimous decision over Aaron Alameda.
Going into that fight, it was thought that the southpaw Nery would have an easy time against Alameda, but he couldn’t do it.
Some boxing fans believe that the 5’6″ Nery’s power didn’t carry up with him when he moved up from 118, a weight class that he’d done well at. Nery, 26, won the WBC belt, but it wasn’t the type of performance that boxing fans were accustomed to seeing from him.
For his part, Figueroa looked much better at winning his last fight in stopping Damien Vazquez in the 10th round on the same card as Nery last September.
WBA super bantamweight champion Figueroa (21-0-1, 16 KOs), the brother of former WBC lightweight champion Omar Figueroa, should show us whether Nery can be a star in the 122-lb division.
The winner of the Nery – Figueroa fight will hold two belts and will be in a position to take on the IBF/WBA champ Murodjon Akhmadaliev or WBO belt holder Stephen Fulton to add a third title.
The plan is for the winner of the Nery vs. Figueroa fight to face Fulton in September. It would be more interesting for many boxing fans if the Nery – Figueroa winner would face Akhmadaliev next instead of Fulton.
The 2016 Olympic bronze medalist Akhmadaliev (9-0, 7 KOs) has looked nothing short of sensational lately with victories over Danny Roman and Ryosuke Iwasa in his last two fights.
In the chief support bout on tonight’s Figueroa vs. Nery card, former IBF/WBA 122-lb champion Danny Roman will be battling Ricardo Espinoza, and super featherweight Xavier Martinez battles Juan Carlos Burgos.
Super bantamweight champions Brandon Figueroa and Luis Nery meet tonight in the main event on Showtime from the Dignity Health Sports Park, Carson, California. The action kicks off at 10 pm ET.