Weslaco native Brandon “Heartbreaker” Figueroa used a punishing body shot to score a ninth-round knockout of Jessie Magdaleno and successfully defend his Interim WBC Featherweight Title on the Canelo Alvarez vs. Jaime Munguia fight card Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
The 27-year-old Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) used his size to keep the fight in the pocket with a combination of punches to the body and head to slow Magdaleno (29-3) from the third round on.
In the ninth, Figueroa had Magdaleno backed against the ropes with the clock winding down. “Heartbreaker” landed a vicious left hook flush on the liver with one second remaining in the round to send Magdaleno to the canvas for the knockout, the 19th of his career.
Figueroa, the former WBA and WBC super bantamweight champion, has now won three consecutive fights since moving weight classes from super bantamweight up to featherweight.
