Omar Figueroa is preparing to square off against Abner Cotto in the co-feature of Saul Alvarez-Austin Trout on Showtime Championship Boxing, April 20th. The Texas born Figueroa will have a home field advantage with the fight taking place at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.
Figueroa was one of the most active prospects in boxing last year with 6 fights spanning 7 months, but he took a well-deserved break in order to regroup a bit. He returned in March with a 1st round KO of Henry Aurad. The buzz was that Figueroa would return in April on the undercard of Canelo-Trout, but it was expected that he would get a crack at a top contender, even possibly a world title shot. It was mentioned that Figueroa would be a future challenger for the winner between Richard Abril and Sharif Bogere’s WBA world title showdown, which made sense considering Figueroa’s fight was on the same night as Abril-Bogere’s title tilt.
Even though Abril was victorious, it was clear that he wouldn’t yet be matched with Figueroa. However, this could be a blessing in disguise as Figueroa gets the chance to showcase his skills against a quality opponent in front of a major TV audience.
Abner Cotto is a formidable opponent and represents his family’s allure to a certain extent. The cousin of Miguel Cotto doesn’t possess an overwhelming amount of experience, but being able to take his undefeated record away can have a certain impact on Figueroa’s resume and possibly give him the notoriety necessary for big bill fights, which translate into world title fights. This is exactly what he’s getting from this opportunity to be on the co-feature.
This could very well end up being the year Figueroa steps into a world title opportunity, but building his reputation is never a bad thing in between.
