Omar Figueroa Jr. Remains Undefeated in Getting By Antonio Demarco

Punches sometimes arrived with a crunching sound, almost like knuckles cracking. Then they were often followed by Omar Figueroa Jr. pulling back and wincing in pain. The 25-year old tried hiding it. He wouldn’t let on that his hands were tormenting him. That each time before he entered the ring he would be filled with anxiety not knowing how long his hands would hold up before breaking down.

It’s led to sporadic activity over the last two years for the former WBC lightweight champ, who fought just four times. Hopefully Saturday night was a good sign he could begin moving forward. Figueroa, fighting at super welterweight, won a unanimous 12-round victory over the game Antonio DeMarco (31-6-1, 23 KOs), on the Premier Boxing Champions show on NBC from the AT&T Center, in San Antonio, Texas.

Judges Valerie Dorsett and Glenn Feldman both had it 115-113, while judge Larry Hazzard Jr. scored it 116-112 for Figueroa. It had to be a great confidence boost for Figueroa (26-0-1- 18 KOs). He threw over 1,000 punches, landing 414 of 1,092 (38%) total shots, to DeMarco’s 225-587 (38%). Power punches also went to Figueroa, who landed 335-701 (48%) to DeMarco’s 208-459 (45%). Midway through the fight, Figueroa had landed 221 punches to DeMarco’s 87. In three of the first six rounds, he connected on 42 punches or better. Through nine rounds, he connected on 276 of 573 power shots (48%), to DeMarco’s 138-316 (44%).

Though after looking strong at the outset, he was leaking in the last four rounds. DeMarco had him some serious trouble in the 11th. A straight left with 2:19 in the round had Figueroa reeling. Another left around over two minutes left created more problems for Figueroa, who was just looking to hang on, while referee Jon Schorle started looking closely at Figueroa.

Figueroa survived the round, but a little unstable. Figueroa came on strong in the 12th, connecting with a straight right on the chin. But he had nothing on them. He had no legs. He couldn’t sit down on his punches. DeMarco finished strong, but began too late.

“I didn’t look as good as I wanted to, but I gave everything that I had and I hope the fans enjoyed it,” Figueroa said.

On the undercard, Chris Arreola (37-4-1, 31 KOs) remained semi-relevant in receiving a gift split-decision 12-round victory over hard luck Travis Kauffman (30-2, 22 KOs). Arreola, who was knocked down in the third and in more trouble in the 12th, won 114-113 according to judges Valerie Dorsett and Ursolo Perez, while judge Wilfredo Esperon had it 114-113 for Kauffman, who most at ringside believed won. Dorsett and Perez gave Arreola the last three rounds, though the 12th round was highly debatable.

Arreola did win the stat war. He landed a total of 216 of 580 punches (37%) to Kauffman’s 206-669 (31%). Arreola landed more jabs, connecting on 93 of 365 (25%) to Kauffman’s 36-203 (18%), yet Kauffman threw and landed more power shots (170-466, 36%), while Arreola seemed at times to pace himself, connecting on 123 of 215 (57%) power shots.

“I thought I had it won, I won the last four rounds, I put in the work, but he caught me with a punch (in the 12th) that I didn’t see coming,” said Arreola, who came in at 236½ pounds, down from 262¼ for his eight-round decision victory over Curtis Harper back in March. “The last four rounds I put in as much pressure and work as he did. That’s what got me the win. I’m very pleased with my performance. I knew I had to pull down the last three or four rounds.”

Kauffman, who had sparred over 200 rounds with Arreola, felt he won over the partisan Arreola crowd in the end. “I came here and when I first came out, the fans here were for Chris, but at the end of the night, they were for me,” Kauffman said. “I won the fight. I knocked him down in the third round and I really dropped him the 12th, and they didn’t give it to me. That’s cool. The referee (Mark Calo-Oy) was on his side. It is what it is. Everyone saw who Travis Kauffman was and that’s all I wanted to do. Show who I was. I’m pissed off because I fought my butt off and I thought I won.”

Also on the undercard, Mario Barrios bears watching. The 20-year old super featherweight remained undefeated by knocking out Manuel Vides (18-5, 11 KOs) at :31 of the sixth round with a textbook left hook to the temple. Barrios (14-0, 8 KOs) set everything up with a right uppercut. He commits well to the body and when he knocks someone out—they’re out. Vides’ eyes rolled over in the back of his head before he hit the canvas.