Brandon Figueroa silenced the Liverpool faithful, stopping Nick Ball in the 12th and final round of a grueling, rugged main event.
Figueroa won the WBA featherweight title with the victory in a tight, competitive fight that saw scores on social media and in our live discussion all over the place.
Brandon Figueroa knocks out Nick Ball: Video
Just seconds into the final round, Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KO) dropped Ball (23-1-1, 13 KO) with a clean left hand, coming over the top of Ball looking to throw his own left hook, with his right hand dipping behind it.
Ball did get up, but Figueroa closed in and finished it, putting the hometown hero down a second time and forcing referee Steve Gray to stop it just 32 seconds into the final round.
At the time of the stoppage, Bad Left Hook had Figueroa just barely ahead on our unofficial scorecard, 105-104. The DAZN broadcast noted that Figueroa was “slightly ahead” on the official cards, as well.
Fans booed Figueroa’s celebration, which he apologized for after the fight, saying they meant no disrespect, and calling Ball a “great champion,” and saying he has “nothing but respect” for his foe.
Andrew Cain earns WBC title shot
Andrew Cain came off the canvas to stop Alejandro Jair Gonzalez in a WBC bantamweight eliminator, earning a shot at some point against current titlist Takuma Inoue.
Cain (15-1, 13 KO) was down twice in the eighth round on body shots, but roared back to stop Gonzalez (19-7-3, 11 KO) in the ninth with two knockdowns of his own. The 29-year-old Liverpudlian will almost surely have to travel to Japan to face Inoue, and it’s an intriguing matchup of very different styles, which could go either way.
Gonzalez, 26, did argue the stoppage from referee Mark Bates, but he had turned his back and walked away from the referee, which really is a mistake, can easily give the referee the impression that you’re done. This is not to say Bates absolutely made the right call, but being realistic, Gonzalez gave him the sort of reason we’ve seen before. Not 100 percent fair, but what is?
