Omar Figueroa’s third round stoppage of Robert Guerrero did not end the show at the Nassau Coliseum last night. Instead, coverage picked up immediately on FS1 featuring the return of welterweight Jamal James against Jo Jo Dan and the continuation of Omar Figueroa’s 2o year old brother Brandon Figueroa’s rise as a prospect in the junior featherweight division.
Jamal James (21-1, 9 KOs) deservedly won a unanimous decision over Jo Jo Dan (36-5, 19 KOs), but that doesn’t mean it was easy along the way. In the first half of the welterweight contest, James boxed really well. He used his range from the outside, utilizing both his jab and legs to create the space he needs to stiffly land his very long right hand. Everything changed in the sixth, however, when Jo Jo Dan began a savage body attack.
Throughout the bulk of the sixth and the seventh, the fight felt as if James was nearly always on the verge of going down from the body shots. They were clearly causing the Minneapolis fighter serious issues, even when he was fighting back. Jamal James remained diminished through the final three rounds, but he did get his second wind and recover from the body damage to win at least two of rounds eight through ten. I scored the bout 97-93 in his favor and the official scores came back there and slightly wider.
This was Jamal James first fight back following his only loss. That defeat came last August against Cuban defector Yordenis Ugas. For Ugas, that fight started an excellent four right run that he is currently still riding high on. For James given Ugas’s success, that loss looks a lot more excusable than it did eleven months ago.
20 year old Brandon Figueroa (13-0, 8 KOs) did Brandon Figueroa in his fight against Beninese opponent Fatiou Fassinou (28-7-3, 15 KOs) Long term, he really needs to develop, but for now his game of leaning forward and winging body shots is entertaining at least. Evaluating him as a prospect, however, raises numerous flags. First and foremost, his frame is all wrong for his style. To fight inside he needs wide punches for his long arms. A better inside fighter will beat him at his own game because of this, especially given that Brandon Figueroa does not bother to defend himself.
Nevertheless, the younger Figueroa’s game is beyond good enough for this level. Though Fassinou was able to land plenty of his own, Brandon largely just beat him up over the eight rounds. This culminated in the final frame of the fight in which Figueroa had Fassinou trapped in the corner for an extended period and appeared on the verge of a stoppage. Fassinou survived, however, and Figueroa had to settle for a a wide unanimous decision.
