Brandon Figueroa, the holder of the WBA's regular world super-bantamweight belt, added the WBC title to his collection when he knocked out Luis 'Pantera' Nery in the seventh round at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California.
Nery, from Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico, had built a reputation as a tough, hard-hitting two-weight world champion, and entered the ring as the favorite, but Figueroa showed that he was willing to mix it up with the 26-year-old, southpaw from the 1st bell.
Nery built up an early lead as he out-landed the 24-year-old Figueroa who hails from Weslaco, Texas. Figueroa, however, was happy to stay close to Nery and exchange heavy shots on the inside, and although he was losing rounds, he was wearing Nery down, breaking his heart.
In the 7th round, Figueroa landed a half-hook, half-uppercut to the liver that dropped Nery who had no chance of beating the count which referee Thomas Taylor completed at 2:18 of the round.