There is now an answer to the question as to why Brandon Figueroa did not challenge for Rey Vargas’ featherweight title.

The Ring has learned that a crossroads bout is in play between Texas’ Figueroa and Las Vegas native Jessie Magdaleno. The pairing between former 122-pound titleholders will land on the undercard of the May 4 PBC on Prime Pay-Per-View event.

Headlining the show, Guadalajara’s Alvarez (60-2-2, 39KOs) will face Tijuana’s Munguia (43-0, 34 KOs) for The Ring and undisputed super middleweight championship. Alvarez, No. 4 pound-for-pound, will defend his Ring 168-pound crown for the fifth time. It will also mark his seventh overall defense of at least two 168-pound titles.

Figueroa (24-1-1, 18 knockouts) is The Ring’s No. 4-rated featherweight contender. However, he has not fought since a twelve-round, unanimous decision victory over former WBC featherweight titlist Mark Magsayo (25-2, 17 KOs) last March 4.

The former WBC 122-pound titlist claimed an interim version of the WBC featherweight title after his win over Magsayo. The 27-year-old Weslaco, Texas native was believed to next face Mexico’s Rey Vargas (36-1-1, 22 KOs), No. 3 at 126, in a title consolidation bout. The fight never came into play, which left Figueroa with just one fight in 2023.

Vargas instead faced Ring No. 10 contender Nick Ball (19-0-1, 12 KOs) this past weekend in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The two fought to a twelve-round, split decision draw. Ball was named as the mandatory challenger despite Figueroa’s place as the interim titlist.

Figueroa, 27, is still without a direct path to his second major title. The trade-off is a high profile assignment versus a still-formidable foe.

Magdaleno (29-2, 18 KOs) has not fought since a 12-round points loss to Raymond Ford last April 8 in San Antonio. The setback snapped a four-fight win streak for Magdaleno. That run followed an April 2018 defeat to Isaac Dogboe which ended his WBO 122-pound title reign.

Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs), No. 6 at 126, went on to win the WBA featherweight title in a 12th round knockout of Otabek Kholmatov.

Magdaleno won the WBO 122-pound title in a Nov. 2016 points victory over Nonito Donaire (42-8, 28 KOs), No. 8 at 118 and a future Hall-of-Famer. He managed one successful defense before the loss to Dogboe.

Figueroa previously held the WBA ‘Regular’ and WBC titles in the 122-pound division. The latter was obtained in a May 2021 seventh-round knockout of then-unbeaten Luis Nery (35-1, 27 KOs; No. 5 at 122). Figueroa lost the WBC belt to Stephen Fulton (21-1, 8 KOs; No. 1 at 122) via majority decision one fight later. The fiercely contested Nov. 2021 unification bout between defending titlists landed high among the year’s best fights.

The bout was the last at 122 for ‘The Heartbreaker,’ who has won two straight at featherweight. His divisional debut was a July 2022 sixth-round knockout of then-unbeaten Carlos Castro in San Antonio. The feat was then followed by the victory over Magsayo.

Jake Donovan a senior writer for The Ring and vice president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JakeNDaBox

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