Yordenis Ugas W12 Omar Figueroa: Omar Figueroa looked like an aged fighter for the first time in his career from the opening bell against Yordenis Ugas.  While Figueroa has never boasted a chiseled physique, he appeared especially soft around the midsection tonight.  Ugas landed a sharp right hand over the top in round 1 that sent Figueroa backward into the ropes which held him up, therefore correctly ruled a knockdown by referee Russell Mora.  The far fresher fighter Ugas consistently got off first, last, and everywhere in between.  His punches were sharp, powerful, and frequent.  While Omar remained game, he was never able to mount the effective attack that had kept him undefeated until tonight.  Omar’s back was often against the ropes to close out the first half of the fight.  His eyes saw Ugas’ punches coming, but did not have it in him physically tonight to roll with them, let alone duck a few times.  In the seventh round, Ugas’ power combinations were so frequent that a corner or referee stoppage might be imminent.  Omar Figueroa was thoroughly shut down tonight against the younger and (tonight) the better fighter in Yordenis Ugas who swept just about every minute of this fight—a fantastic performance by the native Colombian.  While the stoppage never did come, Ugas impressively sweeps every round on every scorecard: 119-107 three times, with a meaningless point deducted for holding midway through the fight; he improves to 24-4 (11 KOs) while a faded Omar Figueroa tastes defeat for the first time tonight and falls to 28-1-1 (19 KOs).

 

Sergey Lipinets TKO2 Jayar Inson: Jayar Inson should be given credit for taking on Sergey Lipinets at the last minute to fill in for the recently injured John Molina Jr.  However, he was simply not equipped to last more than four minutes against Lipinets tonight.  The first round saw Inson moving away from the pressured attack of Lipinets.  And it was at :57 of round 2 that Lipinets landed a devastating counter left hook to the chin of Inson that dropped him instantly.  While he was on his feet at the count of eight, referee Jay Nady called a halt to the contest.  Sergey Lipinets improves to 16-1 (12 KOs) while Jaray Inson falls to 18-3 (12 KOs).

 

Luis Nery KO9 Juan Carlos Payano: Former WBC bantamweight champion Luis Nery (30-0, 24 KOs) stopped a game Juan Carlos Payano (21-3, 9 KOs) at the 1:43 mark of the 9th round.  It was a short and powerful left hook under the ribs that dropped Nery for the ten count.  It was a competitive, while not always supremely entertaining, back and forth fight, with neither fighter decisively owning the momentum until around the 7th round.  It was Nery’s pressure and sharp punching that separated him from the ultimately outgunned Payano.  This marks the 11th straight knockout for the still undefeated Luis Nery. Source: PBC on Fox PPV