Nick Ball Unmoved by Height Gap Ahead of Figueroa Fight

Nick Ball isn’t making much of the height difference with Brandon Figueroa. Every time people bring up the seven inches he’s giving away, the WBA featherweight champion moves past it. He brushes past the question like it doesn’t deserve much thought.

At 5’2″, Ball has been punching up his whole career, and he’ll be doing it again this Saturday. Nothing in his tone suggests the size gap has changed a single thing about how he’s approaching the fight. There’s no talk of extra caution or special adjustments. To him, this is familiar ground.

There’s no underdog talk either. Ball speaks like someone who expects the night to unfold in ways he already understands. He’s dealt with taller opponents before, knows what that brings, and shows no interest in turning reach or height into a talking point.

That outlook isn’t how these fights are usually talked about. At featherweight, size often becomes the first thing people fixate on. Ball doesn’t deny that Figueroa is the bigger man. He just keeps his attention elsewhere, focusing on what happens once punches start landing.

Brandon Figueroa is one of the taller fighters in the division and has used that length to wear opponents down over time. Ball isn’t bothered by that description. He treats it as background information, not something that dictates how the fight has to play out.

That approach has followed Ball through his title run. He tends to strip things back to work, timing, and contact rather than measurements. Nothing about this fight sounds unfamiliar or uncomfortable when he talks about it.

Saturday will show whether that comfort holds against a bigger opponent who keeps coming forward. For now, Ball’s message hasn’t changed. Size is part of the setting he’s used to, and he doesn’t expect it to decide the night.

The WBA featherweight title fight between Nick Ball and Brandon Figueroa takes place Saturday, February 7, at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool and will be shown live worldwide on DAZN, with the main card starting at 7 p.m. GMT (2 p.m. ET).