LIVERPOOL, England — Brandon Figueroa wants to impose himself physically and mentally when he challenges Nick Ball for the WBA featherweight title.

The 5-foot-8 two-weight world champion will tower over the stocky Ball who stands six inches shorter when they meet Feb. 7 on DAZN. Whilst The Ring’s No. 7 featherweight is used to being bigger, fighting a shorter opponent does present problems.

Twelve months ago, the smaller but skillful Stephen Fulton was able to outbox Figueroa during their rematch but the 29-year-old Texan typically can find the answers.

In 2018 he stopped the 5-foot-1 Oscar Escandon in the 10th and final round whilst arguably his signature victory is a seventh-round knockout of the compact, aggressive Luis Nery in 2018.

“Against Nery, for example, I knew I was going to tag him but it was just a matter of time. I just had to be patient and I had to find my rhythm,” Figueroa (26-2-1, 19 KOs) told The Ring.

"That's why I was also able to knock out Escandon. Once I got in my rhythm, once I found the range, I got him out of there. It's just very hard to find sparring that way, that size. It's very hard to kind of get a rhythm against shorter fighters, but once I get my rhythm I'm able to hurt my opponents.

“No one has managed to put me on the back heel. Maybe for a moment but never constantly putting me on the back heel. I'm always pushing, putting my opponents on their back heel.”

Figueroa is quietly spoken and polite outside of the ring, but “The Heartbreaker” takes pride and pleasure in grinding down opponents and ramping up the pressure until they fold.

Ball (23-0-1, 13 KOs) fights in a similarly aggressive way and has broken plenty of hearts himself. Figueroa respects Ball’s attitude and willingness to fight but he will be looking for the telltale signs that he has managed to impose himself on the Liverpudlian.

“It's their will. It's the look in their eyes,” he said. “I see that will in their eyes fade every round. That's what I love; breaking hearts and breaking their will.

“But hey, you never count a man out, especially someone that has everything on the line for him. The pressure's on him and it's going to be an exciting fight because he's going to come with it. He's literally fighting in his city so the pressure's on him.

“A lot is riding for him on the line so I’ve just got to go in there and do my job.”