Brandon Figueroa felt he had to make a change.

If Figueroa is going to win another featherweight world title, the former 126-pound and 122-pound champion determined after his first one-sided loss in 10 years as a pro that he needed a new trainer and a new environment in which to prepare for his fights.

Figueroa felt confident he would defeat Stephen Fulton, who won their 12-round rematch by unanimous decision five months ago at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The Weslaco, Texas native didn't seek excuses for why his second fight with Fulton wasn't as competitive as a “Fight of the Year” candidate Figueroa lost by majority decision in November 2021 at Park MGM's Dolby Live in Las Vegas. He merely realized a need to add new wrinkles to his unusual style if Figueroa is to remain one of the most formidable featherweights in boxing.

Changing trainers was particularly complicated because Figueroa's father, Omar, has been his head trainer throughout his career. Figueroa, 28, is close with his entire family, including his retired older brother, Omar Jr., who once owned the WBC's secondary lightweight title.

They still understood Brandon's rationale for hiring Manny Robles, one of boxing's most successful trainers, to prepare Figueroa (25-2-1, 19 KOs) for his 10-round fight against Joet Gonzalez (27-4, 15 KOs) on the Mario Barrios-Manny Pacquiao undercard July 19 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

"This is the first fight I'm doing without my family," Figueroa told The Ring. "You know how I am – always with my family in my camp. This time, I told my family, 'I love you guys, but feel like this is a journey I must do by myself in order for me to get to that next level.' It's away from all distractions and boxing is all about sacrifices.

"I really do love boxing. I'm really passionate about this sport. I wanna take it above and beyond and do the right things. It hurts not having my family with me every step of the way, but it also makes me work harder, to showcase that I'm fine without them, that I'll be OK without them. I'm always gonna work hard."

Omar Figueroa Sr., who trained his sons to boxing's championship level while working full-time as a mailman, will not be in Brandon's corner July 19 for the first time in 29 professional fights.

It took a little time for Robles and his assistant trainer, Edgar Jasso, to adapt to Figueroa's ambidextrous, pressure-packed approach to boxing. Figueroa has done his part by being coachable and receptive to new ideas from a team that trains numerous contenders and champions at Robles' gym in South Gate, California.

"When I talked to my dad," Figueroa said, "we had a conversation and I told him, 'Dad, I think it's time that I find a really good trainer that teaches and actually shows me something I've never seen before. It's not to take away from my style, but add to it, make my style even more strange, harder to figure out.'

"We've been working on some great things. I've been looking great in sparring. Having great chemistry with the team I feel like is very important. I feel like we've been creating that here in L.A. So, I'm very happy, very grateful and just can't wait to showcase what we've been working on."

Figueroa is almost a 4-1 favorite over Gonzalez, according to DraftKings. Their fight will open Premier Boxing Champions' four-fight pay-per-view show, which is scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET; $79.95).