Stephen Fulton v Brandon Figueroa Rematch Potentially has Major Ramifications
As 3Kings Boxing reported, unified junior featherweight champ Stephen “Cool Boy Steph” Fulton (21-0, 8 KOs) will fight a rematch against one-time WBC 122-pound champ Brandon Figueroa (23-1-1, 18 KOs) for the vacant WBC Interim vacant belt at 126. Here are more details on that contest.
According to the sports outlet Fight Freaks Unite, the rematch will occur on February 25 at the Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The fight will air live on SHOWTIME.
The two men engaged in an epic battle in November 2021, with Fulton winning by a majority decision. Fulton is coming off an impressive unanimous decision victory over one-time unified junior featherweight champion Daniel Roman in June 2022. Figueroa’s last outing was a sixth-round stoppage of Carlos Castro in a WBC featherweight eliminator in July 2022.
DECISIONS, DECISIONS, DECISIONS
This bout was given the thumbs up by WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman during their annual convention in November 2022. But how does this upcoming fight impact the status of the WBC featherweight title?
Rey Vargas is currently the organization’s featherweight champion. He’s set to fight O’Shaquie Foster for the vacant WBC junior lightweight title in February 2023. Should Vargas win, he will probably vacate the featherweight title, and the sanctioning body would elevate the winner of Fulton-Figueroa II to full-time WBC featherweight champ.
Should that scenario occur, then Fulton defeats Figueroa again and becomes the full-time WBC champion at 126, he will have a lot to ponder. Many fans would love to see Cool Boy Steph in a showdown against current undisputed bantamweight champion Naoya Inoue. Would he face Inoue at 122 or stay at 126? The ramifications for Fulton-Figueroa II could loom quite large when it comes to what happens at junior feather and featherweight in 2023.
By: Michael Wilson Jr.
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