(Photo by Sean Fitzpatrick – Double G Media)

After a nearly 20-month layoff, former lightweight titlist Omar Figueroa was immediately put in the middle of a brawl by veteran former multi-division champ Robert Guerrero Saturday night, but the young lion’s power puncher responded well, going on to drop Guerrero five times en route to a third-round stoppage victory in their welterweight main event at Nassau Coliseum. With the win, Figueroa moves to 27-0-1 with 19 KOs; Guerrero falls to 33-6-1 with 18 KOs.

“We knew that it was going to be tough to accomplish but I had obviously trained to get the knockout,” Figueroa said. “With my hands finally being healthy, we knew that it was actually possible.”

“I wanted to break him down. He took my punches well. I think he won a round or two. I needed to catch my breath and I was hoping to stop him late. Either way, I got the win and I’m happy.”

Figueroa, a former lightweight, has said he wants to settle in at 140, but we’ll see. He can clearly bang and brawl at 147, and if he gets a money offer there, he might have no choice but to take it.

As for Guerrero, the reality is that he should probably retire.For boxing fans , let alone his family,that was a tough fight to watch. He’s on a bad streak and this was a bad loss, even with all the determination he showed. He made it a fun wipeout, but it was a wipeout nonetheless. It’s exceptionally unlikely that he’s going to become a contender again.

Seanie Monaghan Didn’t Deliver In Front Of The Home Crowd 

Long Island’s Seanie Monaghan waited a long time for his big fight on the world stage, but it didn’t pan out the way he hoped, as former Olympian Marcus Browne scored a spectacular second-round TKO that continued to raise the Staten Islander’s stock in the light heavyweight division. Browne moves to 20-0 with 15 KOs; Monaghan falls to 28-1 with 17 KOs.

Browne was sharp from the opening bell, and after establishing his jab, he shot in a flush left hand that put Monaghan down with less than a minute gone in the round. Monaghan rose, but the die was cast. A low blow by Browne gave Monaghan a momentary reprieve, but in the second, Browne stepped on the gas and finished the bout, with a barrage of hard, unanswered shots bringing in referee Steve Willis to stop the fight 40 seconds into the second frame.

“It was an honor for me to represent Long Island ,said Monaghan. I knew that it was a big task tonight.”  Marcus is even faster than in sparring. I’ll be alright though, I’m happy to lose to a guy the quality of Marcus Browne.