Brandon Figueroa knocks out Diego Magdaleno with body shot in Round 9

Brandon Figueroa took some time to get rolling. Once he did, he rolled over Jessie Magdaleno.

Figueroa, the volume-punching featherweight contender, knocked out  Magdaleno with a single left to the body in the ninth round of their scheduled 12-round fight on the Canelo Alvarez-Jaime Munguia card Saturday in Las Vegas.

The skillful Magdaleno (29-3, 18 KOs) got off to a strong start, striking quickly when he had openings and then either holding or using his quick feet to prevent a strangely inactive Figueroa from getting into a rhythm.

Figueroa hadn’t fought in 14 months, which might’ve created rust he had difficulty shedding.

However, by around the fourth or fifth round, Figueroa began to pick up his work rate and land more consistently. Magdaleno remained competitive but he also started to slow down, the obvious result of Figueroa’s pressure.

The ending was brutal. Figueroa was pounding Magdaleno against the ropes when he slipped in a perfect left to the gut in the final seconds of Round 9, which forced Magdaleno to drop to his knees in pain.

He was counted out with one second remaining in the round, giving Figueroa (25-1-1, 19 KOs) a successful defense of his WBC “interim” title and his third consecutive victory since he was narrowly outpointed by Stephen Fulton in 2021.

Magdaleno came in 2.6 pounds over the division limit on Friday. However, neither that nor his skill set could overcome Figueroa’s relentless attack.