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Boxing

The prospect of fighting Naoya Inoue serves as ultimate motivation for Brandon Figueroa to avenge loss against Stephen Fulton Jr.

The prospect of fighting Naoya Inoue serves as ultimate motivation for Brandon Figueroa to avenge loss against Stephen Fulton Jr.DAZN

Brandon Figueroa can’t afford to overlook Stephen Fulton Jr. in any way.

After all, Fulton was responsible for handing Figueroa his only professional loss back in November 2021 via majority decision in their unifying super bantamweight world championship bout.

Now, nearly three and a half years later, Figueroa will attempt to avenge that loss when he puts his WBC featherweight world championship on the line in a rematch against Fulton at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, and live on pay-per-view, Saturday night.

In the distance is the lure of a possible mega fight against “The Monster” Naoya Inoue and that pull is serving as a bridge of motivation in what Figueroa is viewing as a must-win against Fulton.

Win Saturday night and he can cross that bridge. Lose and it’s a derailment.

“That’s the biggest motivation,” Figueroa told DAZN News during a recent Zoom session about being able to ink a bout against Inoue.

“But also my big motivation is just fighting Fulton,” he quickly readjusted. “Fighting Fulton is one of my biggest motivations to get my lick back. I always want to fight the best. God willingly, everything goes well this Saturday, then hey, Inoue is on the table and other champions in my weight class are on the table, let’s get it!”

Fulton proved every bit to be the slick, skilled Philadelphia fighter who was credited for his precise punching over Figueroa’s high volume, smothering style in their original clash. Correcting the only blemish on his pro ledger could be the launching pad for Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) to land a possible super fight against Inoue and also turn himself into a household name.

In destroying Ye Joon Kim just last week, Inoue shared plans to fight in Las Vegas this spring and Saudi Arabia later this year. If Figueroa avenges his loss to Fulton, and does so in an emphatic manner, he could find himself in line to collide at one of those destinations with “The Monster,” who is coincidentally the only man to hand Fulton (22-1, 8 KOs) a loss — a devastating eighth-round TKO in July 2023.

“Ever since I started this career, I’ve told my dad I want to fight the best of the best,” Figueroa said. “I don’t want tune-up fights no more. I want the best of the best, the guys that are top, elite level because those are the guys that are going to bring the best out of me.

“So definitely, I can’t wait,” he continued. “Everything is going to be put in God’s hands and like I said, there’s only one man in the way and that’s Stephen Fulton. So once this fight is over, we could talk about all the other guys on the line.”

The other champions at featherweight include WBO champion Rafael Espinoza, IBF titleholder Angelo Leo and WBA champ Nick Ball, though a showdown with Inoue and inviting the Japanese sensation up from junior featherweight would be massive.

And that prospect is exactly what makes this rematch against Fulton so crucial in Figueroa’s eyes, for any false steps and indiscretions in the ring against a calculating fighter like “Cool Boy Steph” could have Figueroa embodying own moniker of “The Heartbreaker” for an entirely different reason.

“It’s very important, probably the most important fight to my career thus far,” Figueroa said about handling his sequel with Fulton. “We’re prepared, we’re coming with everything. The fans are going to get a great show T-Mobile Arena February 1, pay-per-view live.

“I’m excited, anxious and just can’t wait to get in the ring and fight my fight.”