Brandon Figueroa vs Stephen Fulton II Predictions: Rematch finds two fighters at different points

WBC featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa aims for revenge against Stephen Fulton this Saturday, February 1. The rematch takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, on the undercard of David Benavidez vs David Morrell. Amazon Prime PPV will screen the action live.

Here are my Figueroa vs Fulton predictions ahead of this intriguing 126lb title match-up.

Brandon Figueroa vs Stephen Fulton II Odds

Despite winning their first meeting, Fulton starts as a 7/4 underdog on Saturday night. Figueroa is priced at 4/9 to get his revenge. A deadlock is pitched at 16/1.

Fight Preview

This bout is Figueroa’s first defence of the WBC featherweight title. The honour was bestowed upon him as the sanctioning body downgraded Rey Vargas to ‘champion in recess status’. Vargas has been out of the ring since drawing with Nick Ball in a title defence last March. The deposed champion had turned down a bout with Figueroa previously, which led to ‘The Heartbreaker’ becoming WBC interim champion, before being upgraded.

With that admin out of the way it is time to focus on what a good fight this is. These two have done this dance before. Fulton eked out a majority decision back in 2021, unifying his WBO super bantamweight belt with Figueroa’s WBC version. 

One would think that narrow victory would give Fulton the upper hand on Saturday. Perhaps from a mental standpoint it does. But these two men have been on different journeys in the intervening years.

Figueroa has consigned that defeat to the history books, winning three fights since with two victories coming by way of knockout. After becoming the first man to knock out fringe contender Carlos Castro, the Texan turned over the battle-tested Mark Magsayo by decision in a bloody battle. 

The icing on the cake came last time out when Figueroa clinched the WBC interim strap with a ninth-round stoppage of Jessie Magdaleno, as predicted in these pages. That set up a full coronation as champion as Vargas’ hiatus has rolled on.

Fulton has had a tougher time of it since their first rendezvous. A stylish domination of Daniel Roman got people very excited about ‘Cool Boy Steph’. So much so that many thought he might prove Naoya Inoue’s undoing when Japan’s ‘Monster’ made the step-up to super bantamweight. Dear reader, he was not Inoue’s undoing.

Inoue steamrollered Fulton in eight rounds, making him look far more like a deer in the headlights than a unified world champion. Many fighters have frozen in the presence of ‘Kaibutsu’. Many will again. There is a reason he is in the conversation for the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. For this writer’s money, he leads that conversation.

So Fulton went to featherweight. The best move as Inoue had soon hoovered up the two remaining super bantamweight belts. There was nothing in their first fight to suggest a rematch would look any different, so Fulton bulked up.

Fulton’s lone fight since the increase in weight came against a common foe in Castro. While Figueroa pounded him out in six rounds, Fulton needed a split decision to skate past the Mexican. A stiff right hand put Fulton down in the fourth, but he rose to pound out a robust decision win.

Figueroa is one hell of an opponent to face when you’ve been knocked out by Inoue and knocked down by Castro. Fulton will be hoping to tap into the sleek and slick boxing that steered him home in the last one. 

That first fight was hard, with Figueroa pushing his man back all night. But the Philadelphia fighter was cool under considerable pressure and outboxed his persistent foe. Does that resolve still live inside Fulton? Some fighters recoil when shown the top of the mountain before being mercilessly knocked from it. Will the brutalising from Inoue effect Fulton for the rest of his career? Was getting caught by Castro the thin end of the wedge for his decline?

Figueroa vs Fulton II Full Card

David Benavidez vs. David Morrell

Brandon Figueroa vs. Stephen Fulton

Isaac Cruz vs. Angel Fierro

Jesus Ramos vs. Jeison Rosario

Mirco Cuello vs. Christian Olivo

Figueroa vs Fulton II Prediction

Rematches happen for a reason and while it is always tempting to go for a repeat. Having seen the two boxers interact and how their styles mesh, one can usually glean how subsequent meetings may unfold.

After watching the first fight, and the two principles’ subsequent offerings, I am leaning towards revenge. I feel Figueroa will employ the same hard-yards routine as the first fight, pressing forward with ferocity. But I feel Fulton will have lost a step or two after the Inoue hammering. 

I am picking Figueroa to win by knockout. His record of 19 KOs from 25 wins, plus the increased vulnerabilities we saw from Fulton against Castro and Inoue, has me leaning towards a big night for the champion. You can follow me into battle and back Figueroa by knockout at 5/2.

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