There is a Texas takeover of the sweet science. Texans are dominating and unifying belts all over the boxing landscape. One of the premier names in Texas boxing is the Figueroa’s the Weslaco-based brothers have each captured world titles and become fan favorites with their TV-friendly, come-forward styles. Brandon Figueroa, the younger brother of Omar, had a tremendous bounce-back win, coming off of his first career loss. The 25-year-old Rio Grande Valley native gave a vintage performance and reminded fans what they love about the “Heartbreaker.” In stopping the rugged Carlos Castro over six thrilling rounds to capture his 23rd win, move his record to 23-1-1 (18). Figueroa becomes the mandatory challenger for the WBC featherweight title. A strap that is currently held by Rey Vargas. He also establishes himself as a legitimate world-class 126-pounder and takes home our Fighter of the Week award.
San Antonio lies just a few hours north on I-37 of Weslaco, the home of the Figueroa, and is the nearest big city. The city has played a special part in the history of the brothers. Brandon made his pro debut there and Omar won his world title there as well. So when Brandon to the raucous applause of his south Texans fan base he knew he had to put on a show and that’s exactly what he did. In what was an absolute firefight that saw “The Heartbreaker” drop Castro in the third and nearly finish the fight there came to a climactic finish in the sixth. The Rio Grande Valley native again staggered his opponent in the fifth. Castro was able to shift the tide momentarily and land some clean power shots on Figueroa. Brandon turned his man around and unleashed his typical whirlwind of heavy artillery battering a defenseless Castro against the ropes bringing in referee Mark Nelson to come in and wave a halt to the bout at the 2:11 mark giving Figueroa the win and putting him in line for a world title fight at 126-pounds.
The next fight for the south Texas native seems fairly academic, especially with each fighter fighting on the PBC side of the street. Rey Vargas and Brandon Figueroa for the WBC strap should finally happen. The can’t miss, instant classic, that is a Vargas-Figueroa fight. A fight that eluded fight fans at 122 for promotional issues. That is clearly not the issue with both fighters taking care of business Saturday night in San Antonio. The fight will likely be called by the WBC, and with no promotional issues, the bout seems to be a done deal in the very near future. Possibly by the end of 2022. If Figueroa wins, the 25-year-old should be back in pound-for-pound discussions making four Texans (Jermell Charlo, Spence, Rodriguez) all in pound-for-pound consideration
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