Respect Before the Rumble? Figueroa Calls Espinoza 'the No. 1 in Our Division'

Featherweight ringcard, coming through. 🪧

RUMOR (COLD). Brandon Figueroa gave Rafael Espinoza his flowers. "[Espinoza] is the No. 1 in our division," Figueroa told The Ring, as reported by BoxingNews24. According to BN24, Figueroa expects to make one or two more defenses first and sees the fight as a fight-of-the-year candidate. That part is BN24's paraphrase, not a direct quote.

First, the business at hand: Figueroa defends his WBA featherweight title against Kameda this Saturday, Oct 17, at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas on a PBC card. Speaking to The Ring separately, he said: "Come October 17th, I'm gonna stamp why I am the best 126-pounder," and "I'm ready to fight whoever. I wanna fight the best."

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Rumor-Meter

• Figueroa vs. Espinoza: COLD. By Figueroa's own reported timeline it's a couple of fights away, and it would be a PBC vs. Top Rank crossover.

📊 Poll: Figueroa vs. Espinoza, who wins?

• Figueroa
• Espinoza
• Get past Kameda first

You didn't hear it from me… 🤫

Sources

• BoxingNews24 (Oct 2026), citing The Ring
• The Ring: Figueroa wants to welcome Inoue to featherweight