Francisco Figueroa Jr. (born June 13, 1978) is a professional boxer from

Santurce, Puerto Rico Santurce (, from the Basque ''Santurtzi'' which means Saint George) is a barrio or district in the municipality of San Juan. Its population in 2020 was 69,469. It is also the biggest and most populated of all the barrios in the capital city wit ...

and grew up in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, USA. Nicknamed "El Gato", Figueroa has been featured numerous times on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

and HBO fights. On 17 August 2005 he defeated Hector Alejandro Jr. for the New York State Light Welterweight Title. He also fought a powerhouse bout at Madison Square Garden against another undefeated contender, Joey Rios, where he successfully defended the title. Figueroa fought Emanuel "The Drunken Master" Augustus, in which he won on a controversial split decision, on the undercard of the Roy Jones Jr. vs.

Joe Calzaghe Joseph William Calzaghe ( ; born 23 March 1972) is a Welsh former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2008. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the unified WBA (Undisputed), WBC, IBF, WBO, '' Ring'' magazin ...

fight at Madison Square Garden on 8 November 2008. However, some witnesses felt that Augustus, who had landed over 20 punches more than Figueroa, won the fight. He knocked out Ubaldo Hernandez and defended the NABF Light Welterweight Title. He also beat high-ranked and undefeated opponent Francisco Rincon at

Mid-Hudson Civic Center Majed J. Nesheiwat Convention Center (formerly the Mid-Hudson Civic Center) is a venue located in Poughkeepsie, New York, consisting of Mair Hall (a concert and convention hall) and the McCann Ice Arena (an ice skating venue). It was built in th ...

, in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

. On 16 November, Figueroa made his second title defence against formidable opponent Noel Rodriguez. Figueroa won and retained his world title. Figueroa was ranked fourth in the world and commands three minor regional titles. He linked up with trainer and former world champion, James "Buddy" McGirt, hoping for a chance for a world title in 2009. An opportunity at that title came when Figueroa faced former light welterweight champion Randall Bailey in an IBF title eliminator in early April 2009. Figueroa was knocked down in the opening round, but rallied back to score a flash knockdown in the second round. However, another right hand from Bailey floored Figueroa for the count in the fourth round.

External links

* 1978 births Living people Puerto Rican male boxers American male boxers Light-welterweight boxers People from Santurce, Puerto Rico {{PuertoRico-boxing-bio-stub