Brandon Figueroa misses weight by 1.4 lbs, stripped of WBA featherweight title before Kameda fight

Brandon Figueroa has been stripped of his WBA featherweight title after missing weight in Las Vegas on Friday, October 16, one day before his first defense against Tomoki Kameda. Figueroa weighed 127.4 pounds, 1.4 pounds over the 126-pound limit. The Ring reported that Kameda made weight and will be crowned champion if he beats Figueroa on Saturday night.

What happened at the scale

The Ring posted on X at 18:09 UTC: "Brandon Figueroa weighs-in at 127.4lbs and has been stripped of his WBA featherweight title after failing to make the 126lb limit. Tomoki Kameda will be crowned champion if he beats Figueroa Saturday night after successfully making weight."

Boxing reporter Dan Rafael gave the same weight about 20 minutes earlier. Citing a source, he said Figueroa "officially is 127.4" and did not step on the scale a second time, so he loses the title at the scale. Rafael put Kameda's weight at 125.8 pounds. Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated also reported that Figueroa will be stripped. He added that the title will become vacant if Figueroa wins, and that Kameda takes the belt if he wins.

What is confirmed and what is not

Figueroa's 127.4-pound weight and the loss of his title were reported by The Ring, Rafael and Mannix. Kameda's 125.8 pounds comes from Rafael's report. As of publication, the WBA, Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) and the Nevada commission had not put out a statement on the miss. They also had not said whether Figueroa will be fined or whether the fight will go ahead under new terms. Rafael wrote that Kameda could win the vacant title "assuming the sides make a deal for the fight to go forward". The Ring's post suggests the bout is still expected to go ahead on Saturday.

The fight

Figueroa vs Kameda is the co-main event of Sebastian Fundora vs Ermal Hadribeaj for the WBC super welterweight title. The card takes place on Saturday, October 17, at The Chelsea at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas and airs live on DAZN and TNT from 8pm ET (03:00 MSK Sunday). PBC billed the fight as Figueroa's first defense of the WBA featherweight title.

Figueroa (27-2-1, 20 KOs), a 29-year-old from Weslaco, Texas, is a two-division world champion. He won the WBA title in February in Liverpool, where he stopped Nick Ball in the 12th round. At Thursday's final press conference he said: "This belt isn't going anywhere. I promise you that."

Kameda (42-5, 23 KOs), 35, is a former WBO bantamweight champion from Japan. He is trying to become a two-division world champion. In his last fight he lost a majority decision to Angelo Leo in Osaka. "I'm ready to be world champion once again," Kameda said at the press conference.

What it means for 126

The miss adds to the chaos at featherweight, where Figueroa had talked about unifying the titles and about a possible fight with Naoya Inoue, who is preparing to move up to 126 pounds. If Kameda wins on Saturday, he leaves Las Vegas as the new WBA champion. If Figueroa wins, the title stays vacant. POP MMA will update this story if the WBA, PBC or the commission confirm the terms of the fight.