Stephen Fulton vs. Brandon Figueroa II - February 1, 2025

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Stephen Fulton-Brandon Figueroa Rematch In Play, Approved For Interim WBC Featherweight Title

Stephen Fulton has taken a proactive approach for his next fight as an undisputed clash remains outside of his grasp.

A petition filed by the unified WBC/WBO junior featherweight title to next compete at featherweight was unanimously approved by the WBC Board of Governors on Wednesday during its convention in Acapulco, Mexico. The ruling also confirms plans for Fulton to face Brandon Figueroa in a rematch to their terrific clash from last November, this time with the interim WBC featherweight title at stake.

The interim title was made available since current and recently crowned WBC featherweight titlist Rey Vargas was approved to next face O’Shaquie Foster for the sanctioning body’s vacant junior lightweight title.

“We received a petition to have number-one contender Figueroa to have a rematch with Fulton, who conquered the (WBC) title against Figueroa at super bantamweight,” WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman noted in approving the fight. “We allow Fulton to move up to featherweight and fight Brandon Figueroa for the WBC interim featherweight championship.

“If Vargas does not return, that fight will be for the (full) title. Otherwise, the winner will fight Vargas.”

Vargas (36-0, 22 KOs) won the WBC featherweight title in a twelve-round decision over then-unbeaten Mark Magsayo (26-1, 20 KOs) on July 9 in San Antonio, Texas. An effort was made to have Vargas face WBA ‘Super’ featherweight titlist Leo Santa Cruz (38-2-1, 19 KOs), though the fight fell through due to complications beyond the fighters’ control.

Once that occurred, Vargas sought permission to challenge for the recently vacated WBC junior lightweight title. Shakur Stevenson (19-0, 9KOs) was stripped of the WBC/WBO titles at the scales after missing weight ahead of a September 23 points win over Robson Conceicao in his hometown of Newark, New Jersey.

Vargas’ bid to become a three-division titlist opened the door for Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) to get a head start on conquering his second weight division. The 28-year-old unified titlist from Philadelphia has aimed for an undisputed showdown with WBA ‘Super/IBF titlist Murodjon Akhmadaliev (11-0, 8 KOs), who is pressed with an already ordered IBF mandatory title defense against Marlon Tapales.

Fulton is in the voluntary phase of his title reign, as his June 4 win over the now retired Daniel Roman was recognized as a double mandatory with the WBC and WBO. Fulton inherited the WBC-mandated title defense against Roman following his majority decision win over Figueroa in their Fight of the Year-level battle last November 27 in Las Vegas.

Figueroa expressed his interest in a rematch at the time, but likely to come at featherweight where he now campaigns. The 25-year-old Weslaco, Texas native returned to the win column with a sixth-round knockout of Carlos Castro in their semifinal title eliminator on the same July 9 Showtime card that saw Vargas defeat Magsayo.

A date was not confirmed for the ordered Fulton-Figueroa interim title fight, though there are two options awaiting the winner.

Vargas will be required to face the designated interim titlist should he return to featherweight after his bout with Foster. If Vargas remains at junior lightweight, the Fulton-Figueroa winner will be upgraded to full titlist and ordered to make a mandatory title defense. The final contender will come from another fight ordered during the convention, as The Philippines’ Magsayo was approved to next meet former WBO junior featherweight titlist Isaac Dogboe in a WBC-sanctioned final eliminator.

Fulton, Figueroa and Magsayo all fight under the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) banner, with Magsayo additionally represented by Manny Pacquiao’s MP Promotions. Dogboe is represented by Top Rank, whose on-site representative Don Majeski confirmed to the WBC of the fighter’s availability for whatever was planned.

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STEPHEN FULTON-BRANDON FIGUEROA REMATCH LIKELY FOR FEBRUARY 25 ON SHOWTIME

The rematch between Stephen Fulton and Brandon Figueroa will likely take place on February 25. Former ESPN senior boxing writer Dan Rafael was the first to break the story.

The 12-round bout will take place at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota and will headline a three-bout Showtime Championship Boxing telecast. Both will be fighting for the vacant WBC interim world featherweight title.

In their first fight, which was a world junior featherweight unification fight that took place in November 2021, Fulton won by majority decision in an action-fight. With the win, Fulton successfully defended his WBO world title and won Figueroa’s WBC world title.

Fulton (22-0, 8 knockouts), who resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, last fought on June 4, defeating former world unified titleholder Danny Roman by unanimous decision over 12 one-sided rounds.

There had been talk of Fulton facing Ring Magazine and undisputed bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue when the unbeaten star from Japan moves up to 122 pounds. No word if Fulton would stay at featherweight, regardless of the result in the Figueroa rematch, or move back down to junior featherweight. He is currently ranked No. 1 by The Ring at 122 pounds.

Figueroa (23-1, 18 KOs) made his debut at featherweight in his last bout on July 9, stopping Carlos Castro in the sixth round. The 26-year-old from Weslaco, Texas has knockout victories over Luis Nery and Damian Vazquez.

In the co-feature, which was reported by The Ring and other publications, Subriel Matias of Puerto Rico will face Argentina’s Jeremias Ponce for the vacant IBF world junior welterweight title.

The Matias-Ponce fight was originally penciled to take place on February 11 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas as the co-feature bout to the WBC world junior lightweight fight between Rey Vargas and O’Shaquie Foster.

Ring Magazine junior welterweight champion Josh Taylor vacated the IBF title in August after stating he was focused on a rematch against Jack Catterall. The IBF has ordered Taylor to make a defense of the title belt against Ponce, who is the mandatory challenger.

Matias (18-1, 18 KOs) stopped Petros Anayan in his last bout on January 22, avenging a loss that took place in February 2020. The 30-year-old has won his last three bouts.

Ponce (30-0, 20 KOs) stopped Lewis Ritson in the 10th round in June 2021 in his most notable fight, on paper, of his pro career. He has stopped four of his last five opponents.

In the opening bout of the Showtime telecast, an intriguing clash of once-beaten junior welterweights will take place between Elvis Rodriguez (13-1-1, 12 KOs) of the Dominican Republic and Allentown, Pennsylvania’s Joseph Adorno (17-1-2, 14 KOs).

[KiwiRider]

The first fight was pretty darn entertaining. Maybe not quite the pinnacle of "sweet science"
But entertaining for sure.
I definitely wouldn't mind seeing them fight again, and I'm generally not a fan of rematchs.

[DrDuke]

The first fight was competetive, so there's sense. But for me it wasn't very entertaining because of the excess of hustling-wrestling instead of boxing, so I'd rather see Fulton vs the Japanese Monster.

[Ruthless-RKO]

Apparently this was never happening.

I remember Dan Rafael reported it on Twitter that the fight was on, and Mike C came out and said it’s false news.

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Brandon Figueroa vs Stephen Fulton rematch set for Tank Davis undercard

Brandon Figueroa and Stephen Fulton will meet in a featherweight rematch on Dec. 14, featuring on the Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs Lamont Roach pay-per-view undercard.

ESPN.com’s Mike Coppinger reported the news earlier this evening.

Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KO) and Fulton (22-1, 8 KO) met as super bantamweights back in 2021, with Fulton winning a debated majority decision in a really good fight that unified the WBC and WBO titles.

Since then, Fulton lost his belts to Naoya Inoue in the summer of 2023, while Figueroa moved up to featherweight in 2022, and has gone 3-0 at the weight, claiming the interim WBC belt with his win over Mark Magsayo in Mar. 2023.

Fulton also moved up to featherweight in his last bout, a Sept. 14 win over Carlos Castro, whom Figueroa had beaten in his own move to 126 lbs a couple of years ago.

The pay-per-view undercard is also expected to feature Alberto Puello defending the WBC super lightweight title against Sandor Martin.

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Brandon Figueroa elevated to WBC featherweight champion ahead of Stephen Fulton rematch

Rey Vargas, who still doesn’t have a fight booked after drawing with Nick Ball in March, is now “champion in recess”

One of boxing’s weirdest title reigns appears to be over, as the WBC’s featherweight rankings now list Rey Vargas as “champion in recess” and former interim titlist Brandon Figueroa as the true champion.

Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KO), a former super bantamweight champion, has fought just twice since edging out Mark Magsayo for the belt in 2022. Rather than immediately defend his title, he attempted to claim the vacant super featherweight belt while Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KO) beat Magsayo for the interim belt, only to fall short against O’Shaquie Foster.

In a sane world, Figueroa would have welcomed him back to 126 in a title consolidation, but the WBC is not beholden to conventional wisdom or morality. Instead, they let Vargas fight Nick Ball to a draw in March, ordered the title consolidation, then just kinda let it die without comment. I actually sent the WBC an email in August inquiring about why he’s been allowed to go two years without a mandatory title defense and was told “Vargas` situation will be defined in the upcoming WBC convention.”

That’s in December, for the record.

I’m not going to be shedding any tears from Vargas, who in addition to neglecting his duties turned in one of the most cringeworthy championship performances in recent memory against Ball. I will instead savor the additional stakes for Figueroa’s upcoming rematch with Stephen Fulton. It was going to be a twelve-rounder regardless, but it feels more real this way.

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David Benavidez vs David Morrell Jr official for February 1st on Prime PPV

Brandon Figueroa rematches Stephen Fulton in the co-feature

As expected, WBC interim light heavyweight champion David Benavidez will face fellow unbeaten David Morrell atop a February 1st Prime PPV at T-Mobile Arena.

Benavidez (29-0, 24 KO) is in line for a crack at the winner of Artur Beterbiev’s planned rematch against Dmitry Bivol, who may or may not stay undisputed depending on the IBF’s Michael Eifert demand, but is taking a genuine risk here against a fellow super middleweight emigrant. Though he was a bit shaky in his divisional debut against Radivoje Kalajdzic, Morrell (11-0, 9 KO) is a dazzling mix of speed and power when he’s on. I’ll be shocked if this isn’t a Fight of the Year frontrunner.

The undercard notably features a rematch between Brandon Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KO) and Stephen Fulton (22-1, 8 KO), who put on a show the first time around. This was supposed to land on next month’s Gervonta Davis vs Lamont Roach Jr show, but thankfully didn’t stay attached when that got bumped to March.

Also on tap is a fun-looking super lightweight slugfest between Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz (26-3-1, 18 KO) and Angel Fierro (22-2-2, 17 KO), plus Jesus Ramos (21-1, 17 KO) against Jeison Rosario (24-4-2, 18 KO). Did you know Rosario isn’t even 30 yet? Wild.

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Fight Week!!

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Brandon Figueroa sees Stephen Fulton rematch as springboard to featherweight supremacy

Backed by the confidence of a world-title belt, by the four pounds he’s been freed to add and the freshness of victory delivered by destructive body blows, Brandon Figueroa is ready to declare himself the best of the four featherweight champions.

Texas’ Figueroa, 25-1 (19 KOs), returns to the ring Saturday in the co-main event to the David Benavidez-David Morrell light-heavyweight pay-per-view headliner (Prime Video, PPV.COM) at T-Mobile Arena, meeting the former 122-pound champion Stephen Fulton who defeated Figueroa across the road at Park MGM in 2021.

“[That] was the last time I was going to make 122. I just went in so weak for that fight,” Figueroa told BS Monday. “Me and my team had talked about moving up [in weight] almost a year before that fight even happened. Even before the Luis Nery [WBC super bantamweight title] fight [earlier in 2021], we were already talking about moving up because it was getting really difficult for me to make 122.

“But we went out there … we didn’t get a decision, but the experience, the stuff I learned from that fight was even better. I feel like I became a better fighter, a stronger fighter, a smarter fighter after that loss, and it changed me. It changed my demeanor and my drive and we’re only a couple of days away from the rematch and I couldn’t be more anxious or excited, because we made the necessary adjustments.

“We’ve made the necessary preparations to beat Fulton, and not only beat him, but beat him in great fashion. Make a statement. That’s what boxing’s all about and I just want to win convincingly. I want to dominate and showcase that I’m the best 126-pounder there is.”

The field is crowded. Mexico’s 6-foot-1 WBO champion Rafael Espinoza says he’s on a path to unify the featherweight belts. IBF champion Angelo Leo and WBA champion Nick Ball are both relentless dogs coming off impressive triumphs.

And by 2026, many expect current undisputed super bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue to be a featherweight looking for the fiercest competition possible.

“[Unifying has] always been the plan, and that’s the goal,” Figueroa said.

Who would he want first?

“I want to say maybe Espinoza. I feel like any Mexican warrior is tough, but I feel like he has great dimensions at 126 … any of these guys sound like an exciting fight, but definitely fighting him I feel like it would be a great night of boxing.”

The featherweight champions are “just great fighters, great world champions and, you know, these guys are great for a reason and that’s why I want to fight these guys, because they’re going to bring the best out of me.”

Not that he’s looking past Philadelphia’s 30-year-old Fulton, 22-1 (8 KOs), still the only man to defeat Figueroa in that tightly contested unification bout claimed by majority decision scores of 116-112, 116-112, 114-114.

Fulton proceeded to lose his WBC and WBO belts to Inoue by eighth-round TKO in Japan in July 2023, and he returned to action flatly, barely emerging with a disputed split-decision victory on the scorecards over Phoenix’s Carlos Castro in September. Fulton was knocked down in the fifth round.

Four months earlier, Figueroa battered the body of former champion Jessie Magdaleno and stopped him by ninth round knockout on a vicious liver shot.

When injured WBC champion Rey Vargas couldn’t keep a title date, the sanctioning body gave the belt to Figueroa.

“I feel like this fight is going to bring the best out in him, because he knows from the first fight that I come 110 percent prepared,” Figueroa said. “He knows he can’t underestimate me. He knows he can’t underprepare for me, because if he does, then he has no chance of winning.

“So maybe I bring a better version out of him than his past two fights. Only fight night will tell. As far as my preparation, I’m ready. I’m pumped. I’m excited, and I’m going all-out. I’m not letting it slip like I did the first fight and I’m not letting it go to the judges.”

The general points of Figueroa’s fight plan?

“Be patient. I feel like I kind of bumrushed him a lot [in the first bout],” he said. “I was too aggressive and I smothered myself, so maybe just take a little step back and be a little bit more technical. The same aggressive, pressure style is going to be there, it’s just being more technical, being smarter, using my skills, my abilities, my body… I have a long reach, and using all my tools is necessary to win and make a statement.”

While the smile was there when Figueroa learned he’d been elevated to champion by the WBC over the summer, winning the title fight while avenging defeat will be far greater to savor.

“Earning something from your blood, sweat and tears is the most priceless thing you can do,” Figueroa said. “I’m taking this fight like that. I’m fighting for the world title.

“I’d been wanting to fight Rey Vargas for it because I want to earn it. I want to earn something, not [have it] given to me. I want to earn [it] through my hard work, my time preparation, my energy. This is how I’m taking this fight. I’m taking it like we’re fighting for the belt and I’m not taking shortcuts, nothing.”

Known as “The Heartbreaker,” Figueroa in the ring belies the fashion-conscious athlete who tended to his clothing and hair before stepping on stage for the Magdaleno news conference.

At 28, Figueroa wants the Fulton rematch to launch him upon his most demanding stretch of fights yet, a grueling test that no pretty boy would dare enter into – especially if the final test is “The Monster,” Inoue.

“Of course he’s at the top of my list, but first I’ve got to get through Stephen Fulton. Anything is possible after this fight. First things first is taking care of business Saturday and we’ll talk from there,” Figueroa said.

“I just want the best of the best. I can’t stress that enough and we’re only a couple of days away from the biggest fight of my career.”

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[goose 5]

I was very disappointed in Figueroa and not just because I backed him. Fulton fought very well but Figueroa didn't seem right to me at all.

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Fulton boxed with timberlands

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CompuBox punch stats

[handsofstone]

Just caught up with this via crappy upload on YouTube, clear win for Fulton, nothing wrong with Figueroa's effort, he just wasn't effective most rounds, Fulton done a great job of defusing him and getting off sharp punches, Fulton didn't mind fighting on the inside with either, outboxed and outfought Figueroa in there, not as good as their first fight but not as boring as I expected after hearing the reviews