Brandon Figueroa Stripped of WBA Title After Missing Weight
Brandon Figueroa came in at 127.4 pounds, losing his WBA featherweight belt before Saturday's fight with Tomoki Kameda.
Brandon Figueroa stepped on the scale Friday in Las Vegas and came in at 127.4 pounds, a full 1.4 pounds over the 126-pound featherweight limit. The WBA immediately stripped him of his featherweight title, turning what was supposed to be a championship defense into a non-title affair.
The fight against Tomoki Kameda still goes forward on Saturday. Kameda made weight and can claim the vacant WBA belt with a win. If Figueroa wins, the title stays vacant. Either way, Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KO) leaves the ring without a belt around his waist.
Figueroa told ESPN's Chris Mannix that a hamstring injury during camp disrupted his training and contributed to the weight miss. At 5-foot-9, Figueroa has always been big for the lower weight classes, and the drain to 126 has looked increasingly unsustainable.
The timing could not be worse. That WBA title was Figueroa's golden ticket to a massive payday against Naoya Inoue, the undisputed super bantamweight champion who has been eyeing a move up to featherweight. Inoue's team had reason to chase that fight: collect another belt at 126 and add to the legend. Without the title, Figueroa loses his biggest bargaining chip, per Boxing News 24. Inoue's camp can now look toward other beltholders like Rafael Espinoza or Angelo Leo and skip the risk entirely.
The weight miss also raises trust issues. If Figueroa can't hit 126 cleanly for a title defense, what confidence does an opponent's camp have that he'll make weight for a megafight? The reliability question alone could cost him millions.
This is one of those career-altering scale moments, and Figueroa did it to himself. You had the WBA belt, you had the Inoue fight dangling out there like a winning lottery ticket, and you showed up a pound and a half heavy. That's not bad luck. That's a bag fumble.
I get the hamstring excuse. Camp injuries happen. But when you're 5-foot-9 trying to squeeze into a 126-pound frame, every detail matters. You don't have room for a bad camp. The Inoue money was right there, and now his team has zero reason to deal with the headache when Espinoza and Leo are holding belts and making weight.
Figueroa is still a problem for anyone at featherweight. He's big, he throws with bad intentions, and his pressure is relentless. But the sport runs on leverage, and he just torched his. If he beats Kameda in a non-title fight, what's next? Back in line with no belt and no bargaining power. That's a rough Saturday.
KEEP TALKING FIGHTS.
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