“Fiasco in the 12th round”, — write: sport.ua
Ball was the favorite, but he was knocked out in front of his home crowd Nick Ball is regarded by the British boxing community as one of the best local boxers out there right now. Among conditionally young fighters from Great Britain, this is exactly the case.
His height only works in his favor. Welterweights are small guys, but 157 cm is not enough even among them. Occasionally you could find a match in which Nick would not be taller, but at least equal in height to the opponent. That’s why his victories over visually bigger opponents always delight the local audience.
At the same time, Ball’s absolute advantage over most opponents is his physical strength. Thanks to her, he often won victories. Where he could not take the level of boxing, he interrupted the opponent, inclining him to exchanges. And there it is really difficult for everyone to compete with Nick.
This time, a boxer who, despite his height, likes to exchange blows, flew to Great Britain. Brandon Figueroa is exactly the one who wants to get into the middle and even the short distance and fill with power. This style of his was uncomfortable even for the well-known master of the work of the rival Stephen Fulton, with whom Figueroa met twice.
This same style became a problem for Joet Gonzalez, who had previously beaten the same aggressive Ukrainian Arnold Hegai. Jesse Magdaleno was knocked out by the hands of Figueroa. Carlos Castro is the same. Luis Neri, who gave a good fight to Naoya Inoue, also got his own at the hands of Figueroa and was knocked out.
However, along with such experience comes physical fatigue. Even at the age of 29, participation in such a number of close and difficult confrontations should have been evident. Therefore, in the fight against the relatively fresh Ball, Brandon was considered an outsider.
An additional factor was the fact that Figueroa boxed away. He flew to Great Britain for the first time in his career and immediately met a boxer who is openly loved here. Even in his native territory: Ball was born in Liverpool.
It cannot be said that the pressure of the stands affected Figueroa, which is not surprising, given his experience. Brandon felt problems only from the opponent. Ball’s jab turned out to be quite good, as was the counter work when the opponent pressed. It’s not counterpunching from the Brit, it’s just that he exploded with episodes of activity when the opponent opened up. And, given the emphasis of his actions, it sounded loud and confident.
In fact, the initiative went back and forth. Nick Ball sat down a bit over time, missing more and more shots to the body. However, active counterattacks were still impressive. Figueroa took tenacity. Pressed, attacked a lot and tried to stay closer. Which still looked strange, given the difference in their dimensions.
You need to win away from home with confidence. Winning in Liverpool against a Liverpudlian requires more than just confidence. It is preferable to either break him down from round to round or knock him out. Figueroa, who ran at Ball at the beginning of the 12th round, understood this. Popper forward with a desire to gain an advantage more certain than a few episodes won.
It worked immediately. More precisely, not only this, but also the general complex. There are missed shots by Ball during the fight, and constant body work from Figueroa. But at the start of the 12th round, Nick still flew.
Getty Images/Global Images Ukraine He fell as if the duel would be over. Hitting – falling towards the ropes. That seemed to be it. However, Ball got up, and the referee, counting down, allowed to continue. In just a few seconds, the Briton fell for the second time – fortunately, it all ended there. “Fortunately”, because it could have been stopped after the first knockdown.
As it turned out later, Figueroa was leading two referees on the notes at the time of the stoppage. But it’s better to play it safe, who knows what the side guys are thinking.
What now? For Ball – recovery. Probably longer than it would have been if the referee had stopped the fight after the first fall, rather than hoping that Nick would get back into the fight and somehow win.
It will be possible to think further only after that. Last year, the British summoned Naoya Inoue and claimed that he would be the main one in these negotiations. Now this duel, most likely, is not only postponed, but also canceled. Maybe forever.
For Figueroa, it is an attempt to take more belts. The featherweight division is interesting. There’s Bruce Carrington, who holds the WBC title, Rafael Espinoza, who holds the WBO belt, and Angelo Leo, who holds the IBF title. It will be quite easy to come to an agreement with everyone – in the USA they will fight without problems.
At the same time, there will be interesting meetings with everyone, given that Figueroa gives the show.
The idea of revenge should not be rejected either. A second duel is quite possible, given that the boys gave a close confrontation.
But this time, Figueroa should press for the status of champion and call the Briton to the USA. I wonder what the judges will say there. And how will Nick’s violation of the rules be assessed.