A FITTING MONIKER

“The Heartbreaker.”  That’s what a group of preteen girls used to call seven-year-old Brandon Figueroa the first time he put on a pair of gloves to box in an exhibition in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, Mexico—a town just across the border from his hometown of Weslaco, Texas.

Older brother, Omar Jr., who was 14 at the time, was competing in the same tournament.

“My Dad says I was fighting another kid to give the fans a show. These older girls said, ‘Man, that kid is handsome. He’s a heartbreaker,’” said the younger Figueroa, a power-punching, switch-hitter with matinee idol looks and blue eyes. 

“From then on, whenever we went there, this group of girls in the bleachers would go, ‘Oh my God, the heartbreaker’s here.’ I’ve been the ‘Heartbreaker’ since then. The name has stuck.”

Following a brief amateur career comprised of going 33-17 and winning “a local Silver Gloves tournament when he was 8 or 9,” according to Omar Sr., Brandon made his professional debut with on May 9, 2015. He won a unanimous decision over Hector Gutierrez at The State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. 

EARNING RESPECT

Figueroa moved quickly through the ranks. He rose to 15-0 (10 KOs) on March 10, 2018, scoring a seventh-round TKO of  Mexico’s Giovanni Delgado at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas.

Delgado marked Figueroa’s first of three fights in 2018. On August 4 of that year, he stopped previously unbeaten Luis Roy Suarez Cruz in 84 seconds. Then on September 30, he took a major step up in class, facing former champion Oscar Escandon at Citizens Business Bank Arena in Ontario, California.

Figueroa overcame a cut over his left eye from a third-round headbutt to drop and stop the Colombian in the 10th round of a toe-to-toe battle. It was his fourth straight stoppage win. 

Figueroa continued his ascent. On January 13, 2019, he took on former champion Moises Flores at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Flores (25-1, 17 KOs) stood 5-foot-9, and had dethroned the aforementioned Escandon as interim champion by split-decision in April 2015.  Yet Figueroa floored him twice in the third round, once with a left hook and then again with the right, as the referee waived an end to the bout at the 1:35 mark of the frame. 

STRAP SEASON

On April 20, 2019, Figueroa faced Yonfrez Parejo at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. On the line was the interim WBA World Super Bantamweight title. 

Parejo started strong, but Figueroa was up to the task, matching him shot for shot on the inside and beating him down to the body. By the middle rounds, Parejo seemed to be fading while Figueroa continued to gather steam. 

At the end of the eighth, Parejo had enough, retiring in his corner. Figueroa was now a world champion.

Figueroa successfully defended his title on August 24, 2019, knocking Javier Chacon out in four rounds. On November 23, 2019, he took on dangerous former champion Julio Ceja (32-4, 28 KOs) on the undercard of the Deontay Wilder-Luis Ortiz rematch at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, live on Fox Sports Pay-Per-View. 

Ceja came in at 126.5-pounds, nearly five pounds above the 122-pound limit and thus disqualifying him from challenging for Figueroa’s WBA Super Bantamweight title. The two engaged in a heated back and forth which ended in a spit draw. 

Judge Glenn Trowbridge had it 115-113 for Figueroa, Lisa Giampa had it 116-112 for Ceja and Don Trella had it a 114-114.

“I think I did win the fight,” Figueroa said. “He put on a lot of pressure, but I fought better in the early rounds and I finished strong. I feel like he won maybe four rounds out of the whole fight. I thought I won the first four and closed out the last few rounds of the fight strong.

“I basically fought a person in a weight class above mine tonight. I’m pretty sure if he weighed 122, it wouldn’t even be a close fight. We have to run the rematch back but he better make the weight.”