With Omar Figueroa set to make his return next month when he faces Adrien Broner in an Aug. 20 Showtime main event, Omar Figueroa spoke with reporters on how he’s feeling heading into this fight which has been talked about for a while but now set on the schedule.
“I’m excited that this fight is finally happening,” Figueroa said. “I’ve been looking forward to the challenge. I know that Broner has a lot left in the tank and I know that he’s a world caliber fighter regardless of whatever is going on outside of boxing for him. We’re preparing like never before.”
Figueroa would go on to say that he’s taken the necessary time to address mental health issues that had been plaguing him, and now feels reinvigorated and ready to perform at his best.
“Now that I have my mental health under control as well as feeling great physically, I feel like it’s given me new life,” Figueroa continued. “We’ll just have to wait and see how I look and feel in this fight and then we’ll go from there.
“Before I got my mental health under control, I was fueled by hatred and anger and all the negative stuff. Now I’m really soaking it in, making time for my family, being there for my dad. I’m being appreciative and grateful for the opportunity that I have to do this again with my family and do it at the level I’m doing it.”
Figueroa then would give props to US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, who openly dropped out of competition to take care of her mental health struggles, saying she inspired him to have the courage to confront his inner demons.
“I have to credit Simone Biles for helping me get the ball rolling on getting my mental health under control,” said Figueroa. For her to pull out of the Olympics when she did and for the reason she did – I feel like that started the snowball effect for me. I realized that if she had the guts to take care of herself and pull out of the world’s biggest competition when all eyes were on her essentially, then me, who has been getting punched in the face for the last 20 years, I had to start taking care of myself too. I’m so glad that I did. It’s been life changing.”
A for the fight itself, Figueroa says he’s preparing for the best possible version of Broner in the ring, no matter what he intends to bring to the fight.
“We’re getting ready for the best Adrien Broner. Whether that’s one that throws 10 punches a round or 50 punches a round, we’re focused on our craft and what we have to do to win the fight. That’s all we have in mind right now,” Figueroa added.
In fact, Figueroa says he now realizes that his biggest opponent has never been one he has to face inside the ring, but rather the one he sees in the mirror everyday.
“It’s never been me against the world. It’s been me against myself,” said Figueroa. “Now I’ve realized that. After being diagnosed with the slew of mental health issues that I had, I realize that the battle really has been with myself. I’ve made my career so much harder than it had to be because of everything that I had going on outside of boxing. Now that I’ve gotten that cleared out of the way, I’m able to focus on what I have to do to be the best version of myself in the ring.
“I’ve been working my ass off both internally and externally to be the best version of myself. We’re hoping to provide that on August 20. I’m going in there and I want to feel that fire again. It’s exciting and I can’t wait to go out there and put it out.”