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Click Here & Buy It Now!“El Gato” Roars - Boxing’s Best Kept Secret-Francisco Figueroa
By/Por: John Gregg - BoxingTimes.com
Photo By/Foto Por: Steady70.com
Issue/Edicion: May/Mayo 2007
Working behind rapier-like right jabs, riveting right hooks and molar rattling left crosses, Francisco “El Gato” Figueroa is a classy southpaw with heavy hands. The talented 28-year-old junior welterweight is a combination of speed, skill and just enough bravado to turn heads and perhaps shake the title of boxing’s best kept secret.
Originally from the Bronx but now fighting out of South Florida, Figueroa is also one of boxing’s most sought after hired guns. If you’re a world champion and getting ready to defend your title against a southpaw, well, the guy you want to work with is the exceptionally skilled lefthander Mr. Figueroa. The problem of course, is that the former high school wrestling star has picked up more than a few tricks along the way and while he may be slick he can also bang.
That has meant a steady climb in the 140-pound rankings for one of the sports premeir prospects and a rapid march from the limelight to the spotlight for a guy who didn’t even start boxing until he was 22. Nevertheless, Figueroa has all the tools to go along with a genuine hunger to succeed in a brutal business. We recently caught up with the man they call, “El Gato” in Puerto Rico, where he’s the chief sparring partner for WBA welterweight champion Miguel Angel Cotto, as he prepares to face Zab Judah in a title fight on June 9th, at Madison Square Garden.
JG: You have been referred to as boxing’s best kept secret, what are your thoughts about that?
FF: I think it is a great thing [laughter]. It feels good because it creates a buzz. In any entertainment, or anything you do in life you want to create a buzz, so when you do surface the momentum is all ready there. I’m glad because people want to know who is this Gato guy. A lot of them do know me and they know I am the ‘best kept secret.” They want to know if I’m a gimmick or the real thing! So, either way it pays off.
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