Ball vs Figueroa Predictions: ‘Wrecking’ Ball can keep on rolling towards Inoue

WBA featherweight champion Nick Ball defends his title this Saturday, February 7, against Brandon Figueroa. The 12-round title attraction headlines at Ball’s hometown M&S Bank Arena with live coverage on DAZN.

Read on for my Ball vs Figueroa predictions ahead of this world championship clash.

Ball vs Figueroa Odds

Ball is a 2/7 favourite to triumph on Merseyside. Figueroa is priced at 3/1 while the draw is marketed at 14/1.

Ball vs Figueroa Fight Preview

The pocket rocket from Liverpool goes in with a former two-weight world champion this Saturday, but already talk has turned to what could follow. Naoya Inoue, the greatest active fighter on the planet, is reportedly weighing up a move to the 126lbs division. That could make holding one of the four major featherweight belts a lucrative pursuit in the near future.

Ball himself has preached caution on that front. The Brit has always been willing to talk terms, but as usual this week, he emphasised the importance of the challenge in front of him. Very wise, given Figueroa’s standing and status in the game.

But it is impossible not to dream and, for those of us on this side of the ropes, it is a perfectly valid response. The front-foot Ball testing the ability of ‘Kaibutsu’ to bring that power up into a fifth weight category is a mouth-watering prospect. Countless 126-pounders have started throwing their hats into the ring to face Inoue, but few would make for a fight as aggressively exhilarating as Nick Ball.

It is the most tantalising of carrots, but Ball is wise not to let its pendulous dangling hypnotise him. Figueroa is a former WBA and WBC super bantamweight boss as well as the ex-WBC featherweight kingpin. Still only 29, ‘The Heartbreaker’ is still a top-level fighter and arguably the best opponent of Ball’s career thus far.

Only one man has ever defeated Figueroa as a professional. American Stephen Fulton relieved the fresh-faced Texan of his WBC and WBA 122lbs title via majority decision in 2021. ‘Cool Boy Steph’ would lose those belts to Inoue in a devastating eighth-round TKO.

So Ball aims to be the first fighter outside of Fulton to defeat Figueroa. The Merseyside pressure-fighter is a far different beast than Fulton. For a start, Ball is four inches shorter than the American. He fights in an intelligent, intense style. Cutting the ring off, the body bashed so the head hangs. Fulton is primarily a stylist. Ball is a Michelin chef. There is still butchery involved, but it’s elite-level butchery.

When the heat is turned up, Figueroa doesn’t leave the kitchen. His battle with Nery was a war of attrition that saw him take out a man who had Inoue on the deck five fights later. The first Fulton fight was jaw-dropping at times. Figueroa’s most recent fight, a points win over Joet Gonzalez, was savage. But Ball might be the closest thing he has met to a mirror image. A fighter whose primary aim will be to put it on him from bell to merciful bell.

Can Figueroa crack the mirror? Can Ball batter his way to the Inoue dream fight? One thing is for sure when fighters like this meet; the only way out is through each other.

Ball vs Figueroa Full Card

Nick Ball vs Brandon Figueroa

Andrew Cain vs Alejandro Jair Gonzalez

Jack Turner vs Juan Carlos Martinez Urbina

Brad Strand vs Ruben Lezama Gonzalez

Stephen Clarke vs Lewis Howells

Lucas Szeto-Biswana vs Liam Macmillan

William Birchall vs Caine Singh

Paddy Lacey vs Jack Swallow

Lasha Guruli vs TBA

Luke Turner vs Jensen Irving

Luke Prior vs Ryan Frost

Sam Norris vs Jack England

Hassan Ishaq vs Leonardo Baez

Ball vs Figueroa Prediction

I think this will be a fiery fight while it lasts. I see Ball getting the better of things. The Liverpudlian is not a concussive puncher, but I feel he might wear down Figueroa with volume. I’m backing the WBA champion to prevail by stoppage at 11/4.

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