Figueroa, 29, lived up to his moniker, ‘Heartbreaker’, on a deflating and sorrowful night for ‘Wrecking’ Ball and the Liverpool crowd.
The challenger was met by a chorus of jeers on his ring walk, the 7,500-capacity arena close to full and firmly partisan. Figueroa blew kisses to his loved ones and stood calmly in his corner as the noise swelled for Ball.
The Kirkby-born fighter was given a proper hometown reception. From John Conteh to Natasha Jonas, Liverpool has never been shy of producing world champions, and Ball is the latest to have carried on that proud tradition.
The contest began at a frantic pace. Ball threw 145 punches across the opening three rounds – including sharp uppercuts in the first and second – with Figueroa throwing 204 times.
At just 5ft 2in, Ball conceded seven inches in height but dismissed the idea that was a disadvantage beforehand, insisting he preferred “punching up” at taller opponents.
As blood trickled from the champion’s nose and reddened his mouth, Figueroa continued to press and appeared the fresher man at the halfway mark.
Ball responded with a blistering flurry in the eighth. Figueroa winced, smiled and fired back to the body. With some tight rounds, the fight felt finely poised and destined to go to the scorecards.
“Championship rounds. This is your territory now,” Ball’s corner told him.
There was nervousness in the arena, but nobody predicted such an abrupt ending.
With Ball scrambling on the floor after the initial left, he admirably rose on the count of nine.
But Figueroa sensed the finish and unloaded – a left-right-left combination completing the job for the Texan.
During the melee that followed the stoppage, Andrew Cain, a member of Ball’s team who won his own fight on the undercard, appeared to aim a kick at one of Figueroa’s cornerman.
Tensions were calmed quickly, and scorecards revealed the knockout was the icing on the cake for Figueroa, who was ahead of two of the three scorecards at the time of the stoppage.
