Photo by Esther Lin/Showtime
A recent hand injury sidelined Omar Figueroa (22-0-1, 17 KOs) from his first title defense against Ricardo Alvarez on the undercard of the pay-per-view showdown between Canelo Alvarez and Alfredo Angulo.
Instead of facing the brother of a veritable Mexican star, Figueroa will now enter the ring against a familiar face: Jerry Belmontes (19-3, 5 KOs).
Figueroa and Belmontes will face each other this Saturday in a twelve-round bout for Figueroa’s WBC Lightweight title. The fight will be the co-feature on a card that includes Keith Thurman and Lucas Mattyhsse in separate bouts.
Belmontes, who touts an amateur record of 115 wins with 18 losses, says his experience will be important in this fight.
“I fought the top people who are world champions right now like Terence Crawford and Danny Garcia,” Belmontes told Round By Round Boxing during a media workout on Wednesday.
Belmontes, in fact, fought Figueroa five times. Or, as Belmontes confidently puts it, “I beat him up five times.”
They went to a decision the first four times, except for the last fight where, Belmontes claims, he stopped him in the third round.
Whether or not it is an advantage or a disadvantage might depend on who you’re talking to. Belmontes feels confident about Saturday, but a professional bout is obviously much different than an amateur bout.
Furthermore, a fighter, especially in his first few years as a pro, will try to change his style to adapt to the professional ranks.
Belmontes, however, insists that not much as changed.
“I mean, he fights the same way as he’s always fought–from when he was 8 years old to now,” said Belmontes, “He just keeps going forward, no defense.”
Despite the confidence of past amateur wins, Belmontes feels he is being overlooked.
Belmontes will try to outbox Figueroa this Saturday, perhaps exposing defensive flaws he saw in their previous encounters. Whether or not he will be able to keep Figueroa off of him for twelve rounds remains to be seen.
Belmontes only has five knockouts in his 19 wins as a professional. A power deficit that clear might mean trouble against a man with Figueroa’s style. Perhaps this is why he is being “overlooked.”
Nevertheless, Belmontes is confident. “A lot of people don’t think that I’m going to win this fight,” concluded Belmontes, “But I’m going to surprise everyone on Saturday.”
