Figueroa billed his 12th-round stoppage of Nick Ball to become the WBA featherweight champion on February 7 in Liverpool, England, as something similar to a “Rocky” movie. One likely wouldn’t confuse the 5-foot-3 Ball for Ivan Drago, and the parallels largely begin and end with Figueroa going into Ball’s hometown as an underdog.

Nevertheless, with Figueroa pulling off an upset, when he was largely overlooked in the featherweight division following his previous two performances, he believes the script couldn’t have been more perfect.

“It felt like a Rocky movie,” Figueroa told The Ring. “It felt like things that you see in movies – things that you write. It’s just a beautiful story. It couldn’t have ended any better. Me, my team, my coaches, my family, friends that all went all the way to Liverpool, we had a blast. I know the people in Liverpool, they were pretty upset that I broke their hearts, but it’s the fight game.”

Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KOs), fittingly nicknamed “The Heartbreaker,” will look to build on that moment when he defends his title against Tomoki Kameda in the co-main event on the Sebastian Fundora-Ermal Hadribeaj undercard Saturday night at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas. DAZN will stream this Premier Boxing Champions event globally and TNT and truTV will televise it in the United States (8 p.m. ET; 5 p.m. PT).

Figueroa, 29, lost his WBC featherweight title by unanimous decision in a rematch against Stephen Fulton in February 2025. Five months later, he won an uninspiring unanimous decision against Joet Gonzalez before he secured a title shot against Ball (23-1-1, 13 KOs).

The Weslaco, Texas, native led by three points on two of the three judges’ scorecards entering the final round. Figueroa felt like he had the lead, but his trainer, Manny Robles, implored him to finish strong.

Seconds into the 12th round, Figueroa connected with an overhand left out of the southpaw stance that sent Ball to the canvas. Ball rose to his feet, but Figueroa swarmed him. After a combination of punches sent Ball into the ropes for the second knockdown, referee Steve Gray stopped the fight.

“I’ve been throwing that combination since the first round, but he still had legs,” Figueroa said. “He still had air to evade that punch, but obviously in the 12th round, getting battered to the body, getting broken down, he had no legs. He was a sitting duck, and that shot spoke for itself.”

The win gave Figueroa, The Ring’s No. 4-ranked contender for a vacant featherweight title, new life.

A unification bout against Rafael Espinoza (WBO), Angelo Leo (IBF) or Bruce Carrington (WBC) looms large if he can beat Japan’s Kameda (42-5, 23 KOs). Kameda, 35, last fought in May 2025, when he lost a majority decision to Leo (26-1, 12 KOs) in a 12-round fight for his IBF title in Kameda’s hometown of Osaka.

Facing Kameda, a former WBO bantamweight champion, represents a full-circle moment of sorts for Figueroa.

He made his pro debut on the same card on which Kameda lost his title by unanimous decision in a unification bout against then-WBA titleholder Jaime McDonnell in May 2015 in Hidalgo, Texas, near Figueroa’s hometown. Figueroa’s older brother, Omar Figueroa, beats Ricky Burns by unanimous decision in the main event.

An appreciative Figueroa said he still has his ticket from that card. Figueroa, who was just 18 at that time, beat Hector Gutierrez by unanimous decision in a four-round bout.

“I remember at that time, my father mentioned it to me, 'Hey, son, this is your weight class, so pay attention,’ ” Figueroa said of Kameda’s defeat to McDonnell. “I was barely starting, so I think [Kameda and McDonnell] both already had over 20 fights, and I was there to watch that fight live.

“Tomoki's a great fighter, man. I don't take anything away from him. Great, gritty fighter, and he comes to fight. He has that Japanese-Mexican blood, and he can really mix it up in there.”