Brandon Figueroa stops Luis Nery in 7th round to win WBC belt

CARSON — Brandon Figueroa was known as a volume puncher who lacked power entering his Saturday unification bout against Luis Nery at Dignity Health Sports Park. That narrative changed for the junior featherweight from Texas.

Nery was supposed to have the power advantage, but he ended the night on the canvas after Figueroa landed a series of body shots in the seventh round. Nery never made it to his feet during referee Thomas Taylor’s 10 count and the bout ended at the 2:18 mark of the seventh round.

Figueroa’s high-volume punching was doubted by many pundits, but his pressure and cardio dominated the fight after a sluggish start. Figueroa took Nery’s WBC junior featherweight title to go along with his WBA secondary belt.

Nery controlled the bout early with his powerful left hooks, and briefly stunned Figueroa with that shot midway through the first round when both fighters tangled to the ground.

But Figueroa picked up the pace in the third round and didn’t allow Nery to unleash his left hooks from a power stance. Figueroa’s phone-booth style did damage in the middle rounds, as Nery dropped his punching rate.

WBO champion Stephen Fulton was ringside to see the slugest and examine his next opponent. Fulton was scheduled to fight the winner of Nery-Figueroa on Sept. 11 for a unification bout on Showtime.

“I envisioned everything,” Figueroa said. “I envisioned beating Nery and fighting Fulton.”

Fulton pushed for a bout with Figueroa before he fought Nery. Fulton and Figueroa have traded verbal jabs on social media.

“I match up best with Figueroa because he’s an action-packed fighter,” Fulton said. “With Nery, I feel like he’s too small. I can keep him out of range with boxing too easy.

“(Figueroa) gets hit a lot. I like his style, don’t get me wrong. His style is tailor-made for me. It’s the perfect style.”

UNDERCARD BOUTS

In the co-main event, Los Angeles native Danny Roman recorded a hometown victory with a unanimous decision over Ricardo Espinoza (97-93, 98-92, 98-92).

Roman, a former junior featherweight champion, used his range to land vicious uppercuts and nearly recorded a stoppage after the eighth round, but the ringside doctor allowed Espinoza to continue. He was gushing blood from his mouth and nose.

“He’s a tough fighter,” Roman (29-3-1, 10 KOs) said. “He hits hard. I had to make adjustments … I started getting my distance, I started fighting my fight, I started controlling. After the eighth round, I thought he was going to go down. … He showed a lot of heart.”

Roman is the mandatory challenger for the WBC champion, but he’ll have to wait his turn until after the Sept. 11 bout between Fulton and Figueroa.

To open the Showtime-televised event, Xavier Martinez outpointed Juan Carlos Burgos in an entertaining 10-round super featherweight slugfest.

Martinez won by unanimous decision with all three judges scoring it 99-91, but the fight fans in the stands viewed the bout much closer and booed the results.

Martinez (17-0, 11 KOs) is known for his patient boxing skills, but Burgos (34-4-2, 21 KOs) pushed him to the center of the ring for an all-out brawl, especially in the later rounds.

“He’s tough as nails,” Martinez said about Burgos.

BENAVIDEZ WANTS CANELO

David Benavidez wants to end Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’s reign at super middleweight.

Benavidez said he’s aiming to fight Alvarez to regain his WBC super middleweight title and earn respect as one of boxing’s best fighters.

“The main reason I want that fight (with Alvarez) is not because of money, it’s not because of all that,” Benavidez told the Southern California News Group while sitting ringside for the Showtime boxing event. “I want my respect from the people. I’ve been a professional (fighter) for almost eight years, so I feel like if I get prepared for that fight, I win that fight, I’ll get my respect from everybody.

“Undoubtedly, you have to give David Benavidez his respect, but (Alvarez) has all the titles.”

Before Alvarez joined the 168-pound division, Benavidez was viewed as the top champion, but he was stripped of the WBC belt for missing weight at his previous fight in August.

Alvarez owns three of the four major belts in the division after victories against Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders. All signs point to Alvarez fighting Caleb Plant next because he’s the IBF champion and a victory over him would make Alvarez the undisputed champion at super middleweight.

Benavidez said he wants to fight the winner of Alvarez-Plant if that fight gets scheduled. Benavidez is booked for an Aug. 28 bout versus Jose Uzcategui in a WBC title eliminator.

Benavidez (24-0, 21 knockouts) vouched for Alvarez (56-1-2, 38 KOs) to fight him in the near future because it would do well financially as two fighters with Mexican backgrounds.

“I feel like I have a lot of weapons that could neutralize Canelo, just seeing his past opponents,” Benavidez, 24, said. “ But Canelo is a beast. At the end of the day, he’s a beast. That would be a great fight to be made, not just for me, but for the fans.

“It hurt me a lot losing the title, but I’m right back in there. I got 24 fights, I got 21 knockouts, so I’m just ready for whoever.”