Brandon Figueroa expects a firefight when he faces Mark Magsayo, March 4

As Brandon Figueroa readies himself for his upcoming vacant title fight with Mark Magsayo in a March 4 PBC on Showtime main event, Figueroa spoke to the media today about his expectations for the bout and what he thinks of his opponent.

“[Mark] Magsayo is an amazing fighter and I expect a lot from him,” Figueroa said. “I’ve been in Las Vegas for over a month and things are going great. Magsayo is a strong fighter, but I’m a strong fighter as well. I have what it takes to take this fight right to him and show the world that I have the same power at featherweight.

The style of Figueroa, 26, isn’t exactly a mystery for those who’ve seen him fight before, and he tells fans that they can expect to see more of the same from him in this fight as he’ll be coming to bring the heat.

“Everyone knows that I come to fight,” Figueroa continued. “Come March 4, everyone is going to see what kind of fighter I am at 126-pounds.

“I know exactly what I’m doing when I fight inside the pocket. When I’m inside, I’m really comfortable and I know how to work. I can let my body shots off from there. We’ve worked on a lot of things though, because I know Magsayo is a heavy hitter like me.”

And as Magsayo is a fighter who also doesn’t mind mixing things up, Figueroa says that we’re all going to be in for a real treat as the style matchup makes for a compelling fight that we can all get excited about.

“As fans expected from Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, this is going to be an amazing fight,” said Figueroa. “We both have the heart of a lion and we’re both trying to become champions again. I won’t let anyone get in my way. I’m coming out of the ring as a champion.

“I’ve been in there with a lot of world champions and great fighters. We both fought Julio Ceja, and only Magsayo got knocked down. I was able to handle the power. He didn’t make me buckle, and he weighed in four pounds heavier than I did.”

“This could be another Fight of the Year candidate. I’m ready to show off my skills. The fans love when I fight because they know it’s never boring. I want to fight the best of the best and keep proving to everyone that I belong at this level.”

Figueroa would then go on to say that he and his team have been studying film on Magsayo, and figure that he’s able to get frustrated in fights, and that’s something they’ll be looking to leverage to their advantage.

“We’ve been focused on Magsayo and we’ve seen that he was frustrated and impatient against Rey Vargas,” Figueroa would say. “We’re learning from it and preparing to take advantage of it.

“People have been saying they’re going to knock me out since the start of my career. They can say what they want about my style, but I’m still here. And I’m not here by the skin of my teeth. I work hard. Come fight night, he’ll find out if I’m easy to knock out or not.”

Of course a fight Figueroa would really like going forward would be a rematch against Stephen Fulton Jr, who handed him his only professional loss in a close fight. Figueroa doesn’t think Fulton will be eager to give him a second bite at the apple and that he’ll instead have to force his hand.

“I expected Stephen Fulton Jr., to not take the rematch with me. My job is to go out there and give a spectacular fight for the fans. I do what I do best, and that’s fight. I do feel like the rematch will happen in the future, it’s just a matter of time.”