Queensberry announced today that Nick Ball will defend his WBA featherweight title against #1 contender Brandon Figueroa on February 7th at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.
Former WBA and WBC super bantamweight champion ‘The Heartbreaker’ Figueroa (26-2-1, 19 KOs) is getting a quick title shot after losing to Stephen Fulton in a rematch on February 1st earlier this year.
Quick or fair shot for Figueroa?
Some fans grumbled about Figueroa being picked so soon after his one-sided loss to Fulton. However, Ball (23-0-1, 13 KOs) has not shown much interest in fighting the likes of Rafael Espinoza, Bruce Carrington, Angelo Leo or Otabek Kholmatov. So, Figueroa is decent than great.
The 5’2″ toy cannon, Ball, has won his last four fights since fighting to a controversial 12-round draw against Rey Vargas in March 2024. He is coming off a 12-round unanimous decision victory over Sam Goodman on August 16, 2025 in Riyadh.
It was a much closer fight than the scores indicated. Goodman isn’t known for his power, but he lightened up Ball throughout the fight with beautiful combinations and got the better of him much of the time.
“WBA featherweight king Nick Ball returns home to defend his crown against one of his toughest tests yet in two-weight world champion Brandon Figueroa on February 7,” reports Queensberry.
The boxing public wants to see Ball step it up against better opposition, as he’s been taking it easy since his close call against Vargas. He beat Ray Ford by a 12-round split decision in June 2024, but then feasted on older fighters, TJ Doheny and Ronny Rios. Those fights did very little to interest fans.
Unified Reality: Does Ball Really Want It?
Many believe Ball is playing it safe and deliberately milking his WBA title so that he can still hold it when Naoya Inoue moves up to 126. It is believed that the Japanese upstart will target Ball because he is an easy mark compared to the other champions, Espinoza, Leo and Carrington.
Last updated on 12/11/2025
