Stephen Fulton wins unification bout in a war against Brandon Figeroa

The 122 pound division titles are finally unified. As two of the top fighters squared off Saturday for all the belts. Brandon Figeroa has a unique in your face kind of style. Figeroa charged forward to make it an ugly entertaining fight. However, Stephen Fulton fended off the ferocious Figueroa by landing the cleaner harder counter punches which ultimately resulted in a majority decision (116-112) (116-112) (114-114). By winning a majority decision, Philadelphia’s Fulton (20-0, 8 KOs) successfully made the first defense of his WBO junior featherweight and won the WBC super bantamweight championship from Figueroa (22-1-1, 17 KOs).

This fight was a fight of the year contender with both guys fighting in close quarters the entire fight. It was an old school phone booth fight. Figeroa pressed the action backing Fulton up. Fulton landed the flusher shots which appealed more to the judges.Fulton was accurate and sharper, connecting on 269 of his 726 punches for a 36 percent connect rate, according to Showtime’s ShoStats. Figueroa landed 314 of his 1,060 punches for a connect rate of 29 percent. Fulton willingly traded on the inside, mixing uppercuts and body shots around clinches . He fought at range when he could, employing a steady jab to keep Figueroa away. .

The fight ended in somewhat controversial fashion. Figueroa, who in the post-fight press conference called the majority decision the biggest robbery of the year. Both fighters shared some post-fight tension with Figueroa confronting Fulton during his interview to question whether he truly believed he won, which Fulton said he did and the two fighters would continue to argue. Fulton and Figueroa agreed to a rematch to clear all doubt. However, Figueroa also indicated that he might need to move up in weight after this fight. The fight certainly lived up to its billing and win or lose both fighters have star potential written all over them.