Queensberry announced today that Nick Ball defends his WBA featherweight title against #1-ranked contender Brandon Figueroa on February 7th at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.
The former WBA and WBC super bantamweight champion, ‘The Heartbreaker’ Figueroa (26-2-1, 19 KOs), is getting a fast title shot after losing earlier this year to Stephen Fulton in a rematch on February 1st.
Fast-Tracked or Fair Shot for Figueroa?
Some fans are grumbling about Figueroa getting selected so soon after his one-sided loss to Fulton. However, Ball (23-0-1, 13 KOs) hasn’t shown much interest in fighting the likes of Rafael Espinoza, Bruce Carrington, Angelo Leo, or Otabek Kholmatov. So, Figueroa is decent if great.
The 5’2″ toy cannon, Ball, has won his last four fights since battling to a controversial 12-round draw against Rey Vargas in March 2024. He’s coming off a 12-round unanimous decision win over Sam Goodman on August 16, 2025, in Riyadh.
That was a much closer fight than the scores indicated. Goodman isn’t known for his power, but he was lighting up Ball the entire battle with beautiful combinations and getting 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 a two-weight world champion, Brandon Figueroa, on February 7th,” 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 the older fighters, TJ Doheny and Ronny Rios. Those fights did very little to interest fans.
Unification Reality: Does Ball Truly Want It?
Many people believe Ball is playing it safe, milking his WBA title intentionally so he can still hold it when Naoya Inoue moves up to 126. It’s believed that the Japanese start will target Ball because he’s an easy mark compared to the other champions, Espinoza, Leo, and Carrington.
Last Updated on 12/11/2025
