Brandon Figueroa stopped Jessie Magdaleno with a brutal body shot in the ninth round to retain his WBC ‘interim’ featherweight belt.
The pair met in an undercard bout on the Canelo Alvarez vs Jaime Munguia undercard at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Throughout the build-up, Figueroa vowed to prove he is ‘more than a brawler’ which led to a more conservative pace than what we have come to expect from ‘The Heartbreaker’.
The arena fell deadly silent as the featherweight contenders engaged in a cagey affair.
For most of the fight, Magdaleno did a good job of spoiling Figueroa’s work by tying him up and circling the ring while the American marched forward looking to pick his shots.
Eventually, though, Figueroa found his opening and attacked it with purpose, landing a thudding left to the body that knocked the wind out of Magdaleno’s sails.
The former world title challenger was sent crashing to the canvas with seconds left in the ninth round and was unable to beat the count as he doubled over writhing in pain.
Supporters may not have been wowed by the fight but the liver shot certainly impressed.
One fan wrote: “He’s really dangerous on the inside, those body punches.”
Another tweeted: “Perfect liver shot, wow.”
A third added: “Body shot from hell.”
A further quipped: “It wasn’t a great fight but what a body shot to end it, I felt it in the UK.”
And a fifth commented: “I felt that body shot…in my living room!”
According to the Compubox stats, Figueroa outlanded Magdaleno by 129 to 115 punches.
Figueroa ( 24-1-1) last fought in March 2023 when he earned a unanimous decision win over Mark Magsayo in his second fight back since the only loss of his professional career against Stephen Fulton in November 2021.
Magdaleno (29-3) has now lost two on the bounce after falling to defeat at the hands of Raymond Ford last time out in April 2023.
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