The fighters and everyone else can argue about the scoring. One thing upon which everyone will agree? It was a hell of a fight.
Stephen Fulton and Brandon Figueroa delivered a classic battle in their 122-pound title-unification bout Saturday at Park Theater in Las Vegas, throwing a combined 1,786 punches in nonstop back-and-forth action.
Fulton had his hand raised, the result of a majority decision, but no one was a loser.
“It was a war,” Fulton said immediately afterward. “It was a tough fight, he’s a tough person.”
That’s for sure. Figueroa, who lost his WBC belt, applied suffocating pressure on the WBO titleholder from the opening bell to the end of the 12th and final round. He threw 1,086 punches, landing 314, according to CompuBox.
The Texan’s body work was particularly effective, as more than a third of his punches (106) were to the stomach.
However, Fulton, who outslugged slugger Angelo Leo in his previous fight, weathered the storm effectively. He caught Figueroa with many clean counter punches, moved or held when he had to and held his own in toe-to-toe exchanges, which is Figueroa’s wheelhouse.
Fulton landed 269 of 726 punches overall, including 85 to the body.
In the end, two of the judges – and Boxing Junkie – favored Fulton’s accuracy and solid work inside over Figueroa’s volume punching. The scores were 116-112, 116-112 and 114-114. Boxing Junkie also had it 116-112 for Fulton, eight rounds to four.
“I was catching him in between the shots he was throwing,” said Fulton, whose interview was interrupted by Figueroa. “Yeah, he was making it a little sloppy and rough. And the ref was saying I was hitting him low. I wasn’t; I was placing my shots.”
The interviewer asked Fulton about the punching statistics, pointing out that Figueroa was more active.
“More active, but who landed cleaner shots?” I caught you in the middle of everything you were throwing,” he responded as Figueroa’s team heckled him.
Figueroa, frustrated by the scoring, believes he was cheated.
“I put the pressure the whole 12 rounds,” he said. “I landed the cleaner shots. I hurt him like five times. I probably lost four rounds in that fight.”
He added when he was asked for final thoughts: “Probably has to be the biggest robbery of the year. Everybody here knows who won. The fans that watched it live know who won. Even [Fulton] knows who won. They just don’t want to admit it. They just want to make the fight with him and [fellow titleholder Murodjon Akhmadaliev].
“I came to fight. Everyone knows I come to fight, I don’t come to hold. I brought pressure the whole 12 rounds. I think even you know who won.”
Fulton offered to fight Figueroa a second time but that isn’t likely. Figueroa, who has a hard time making 122, declared multiple times going into the fight that he planned to move up in weight win or lose.
He said after the fight that he would like a rematch with Fulton but hemmed and hawed when pushed about whether it’s realistic. It’s clearly time for him to move up to 126, at which he’ll be physically stronger.
What next for Fulton? Figueroa probably named the man Fulton will fight sometime soon: MJ, which is Akhmadaliev’s nickname. The Uzbek holds the IBF and WBA junior featherweight titles, meaning the winner of that fight would become undisputed champion.
Did Fulton earn the right to fight Akhmadaliev for the championship? The judges thought so. But the debate will rage on.