Ambitious Justin Figueroa hoping Gatti-like days return to Boardwalk Hall

Justin Figueroa fights in New Jersey this weekend and hopes to bring back a world title fight to the Boardwalk Hall, the same venue in New Jersey where his idol, Arturo Gatti, once lit up the boxing world.

The 25-year-old is set to fight last-minute substitute Bela Istvan Orban in a six-round bout at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City on Friday.

Figueroa, 9-0 (7 KOs), a native of New Jersey, spent his youth immersed in video games set in Boardwalk Hall and watched the big fights from there on television. From Atlantic City, he has seen the decline of the local fight scene over the past decade and aims to rejuvenate major bouts in his hometown. On Instagram, he goes by ‘Mr. Atlantic City.’ 

“So as far as I can remember, since a young kid, boxing has always been really big in Atlantic City,” Figueroa said. “When I first got into boxing around four- or five-years old, there were already fighters in the game from Atlantic City, but Arturo Gatti was obviously one of the biggest fighters fighting in Atlantic City.

“I remember playing the Fight Night video game with my little brother. We would always pick the Boardwalk Hall as our venue. I would pick Gatti, and he would pick Roy Jones,” Figueroa told BoxingScene. “It’s really cool to grow up and be able to fight in Atlantic City.”

Gatti was Figueroa’s favorite fighter. He even adopted Gatti’s hairstyle, wanting blond streaks like Gatti. No-one was bigger than when Gatti brought Floyd Mayweather to Atlantic City for a fight that didn’t go Gatti’s way.

“My dream would be to have a big fight at Boardwalk Hall with thousands and thousands of people coming out and fighting for the championship of the world,” Figueroa said. “If I win that, I could probably die the next day and be happy with my life or retire from boxing. That’s all I want. That’s just a big dream for me. I know I will be on the ultimate high, on the highest cloud, if that happens for me. That’s definitely the goal.”

Figueroa has already fought three times at Boardwalk Hall and looks to extend his knockout streak to two as he faces Orban (4-9-2, 2 KOs), of Hungary. The 24-year-old visitor is on a four-fight losing streak and was stopped in his last bout by Jeremy Cuevas in March.

“I am not saying I am there yet,” Figueroa said. “I’m just obsessed with trying to make that happen. I have that as a goal, and it’s a big passion of mine to bring boxing back to Atlantic City and sell out Boardwalk Hall.”