Gave us FOTY contenders in three separate calendar years (if not winners in some fans minds) and seemed to be on the cusp of bigger things. He had the looks, the style, and the marketability angles. Figueroa is obviously a hittable and outboxable fighter, but that's not what I'm here to discuss. Fighters like him are good for the sport, and it's a shame to see whatever the hell is going on that is robbing him (and the fans) of more fights. He's been out of the ring for over a year now, with no fights scheduled and as far as I know no recent news. I know he had brittle hands. I believe he broke both against Nihito Arakawa in one of the wildest and most intense fights you'll ever see. A pretty large problem for an almost pure pressure fighter who lives by his insane work rate. He also had noted weight problems, he ballooned up to an absurd 151 pounds for his last fight against Antonio Demarco, after weighing 141 1/2 against Ricky Burns. After the 12 rounds against Demarco his head and face were swollen, similar to how Alex Stewart damaged George Foreman's face. Maybe he's all burnt out? Reminiscing, thoughts and discussion welcome. This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected
All the fights above (Including the Estrada match, which I can't find) are well worth a view. Damn good fights, especially the Arakawa fight, which is in my opinion legendary.
According to his Twitter, he really needed the time off, and is looking forward to being back in the ring in early 2017.
I only went back to Christmas on his timeline so nothing specific. All he said was we wanted to think his fans for all their support during this much needed time off. Then said he looks forward to fighting again in early 2017.
DeMarco beat the living crap out of him in the last 3 rounds of their match, it must have woke his ass up to beauty of a little thing called defense, and why you shouldn't fight 20 pounds north of your natural weight class.
I still remember when he was the #1 guy at lightweight, it was the worst time in the history of the division.
I still remember when people said Figueroa would beat Crawford. He's an entertaining fighter but his career won't last much longer if he keeps getting hit as much as he does.
