By Jake Donovan

Friday's weigh-in wasn't exactly the best introduction for Omar Figueroa's venture into the junior welterweight division. The unbeaten local favorite from nearby Weslaco showed up more than a pound over the contracted limit for his showdown with Ricky Burns in a battle of former lightweight titlists Saturday afternoon at State Farm Arena in Hidalgo, Texas. 

The bout airs live on CBS in the United States and Sky Sports in the United Kingdom. The event marks the second CBS-televised airing of Al Haymon's Premier Boxing Champions series, which has also previously played twice each on NBC and Spike TV.

Figueroa (24-0-1, 18KOs) made the command decision to move up in weight after struggling to squeeze into a 135 lb. uniform. The hard-hitting Texan first announced his arrival with a knockout win over Michael "The Artist" Perez back when both were unbeaten prospects in Jan. '12. 

It was a slow road to stardom from there, but Figueroa picked up his first major belt with a decision win over Nihito Arakawa in a sensational war in July '13. Healing bruises and hand injuries kept him out of the ring for the next nine months before resurfacing with a questionable decision win over Jerry Belmontes in his first title defense last April.

A knockout win over Daniel Estrada last August was more in line with vintage Figueroa fighting, though it was to be his last defense as a lightweight titlist. Now a junior welterweight (even if slightly heavier for the time being), the 25-year old looks to make a run for a second major title. 

Burns (37-4-1, 11KOs) would love nothing more than to upset those plans. 

The all-action fighter from Glasgow is a former 130 lb. and 135 lb. titlist, the latter reign kicking off with a decision victory over Michael Katsidis for an interim version of the belt in Nov. '11. Burns followed up with a 12-round win over Paulus Moses for full recognition as a lightweight titlist. A Sept. '12 knockout win over Kevin Mitchell was arguably the best performance of his career, but also perhaps his last great moment in the sun.

Burns' reign lasted another 18 months, though struggling in an injury-induced stoppage win over Jose 'Chelo' Gonzalez and a highly controversial draw with Raymundo Beltran in his two fights in 2013. The title run came to an end last March, dropping a 12-round decision to Terence Crawford, who went on to gain recognition in some circles as 2014 Fighter of the Year. 

The loss to Crawford was easily forgiven, but not so much when he came up well short versus Dejan Zlaticanin three months later. The shocking points loss even had Burns' promoter Eddie Hearn declaring that the fighter's future was best fit for the domestic level. 

One win later, however, Burns was tabbed to travel to the states for the first time in his career when Figueroa was in need of an opponent for his free-TV network debut. 

Read on to see how the staff at BoxingScene.com believes the action will play out. 

BOXINGSCENE.COM STAFF PREDICTIONS: OMAR FIGUEROA vs. RICKY BURNS

Jake Donovan (Figueroa TKO10): I might be too optimistic in believing Figueroa's power will follow him up the scale. Still, not a particulary great matchup for Burns at this stage of his career. I'm also not fuly convinced Figueroa did all he could to shed any more weight after showing up over the limit. A stronger version of the unbeaten former lightweight titlist figures to be way too much for a badly faded former lightweight titlist to handle.

John MacDonald (Figueroa Dec.): Burns is not the fighter he was. Out of the ring matters may have played on his mind but the former WBO lightweight champion hasn't looked good since destroying domestic rival Kevin Mitchell. Since sustaining a broken jaw against Ray Beltran, Burns looks uncomfortable under pressure and Figueroa will bring plenty of pressure and ultimately outwork and bully Burns.

Takahiro Onaga (Figueroa KO7): Burns is brave but a shot fighter. Figueora will run him over.

Cliff Rold (Figueroa KO): Burns has appeared faded and Figueroa, while defensively awful, should have too much mustard in this one. Entertaining but one-sided outcome.

Victor Salazar (Figueroa late TKO): Ricky Burns is traveling across the pond for the 1st time and for a name like Omar Figueroa no less, meaning he’s the opponent here. Burns has made fighters like Roman Gonzalez, Terence Crawford, and Ray Beltran come to him. Burn in his best would likely be favored but he has certainly declined and this fight is a weight division up from where he usually fights. I see Figueroa wearing him down and stopping him late.

Reynaldo Sanchez (Burns UD): Perhaps one of the best fights of the weekend. Besides his experience, Burns has obvious physical advantage in height and this could be decisive. Figueroa is an aggressive and strong fighter, but he gets hit way too much in each fight.

Alexey Sukachev (Figueroa Dec.): Figueroa is plagued by injuries but he is still better than a sliding Scottsman, who has seen better days and whose de facto record is 1-4 in his last five fights (with a robbery case against Ray Beltran and a lucky salvation in Chelo Gonzalez fight). Panterita will outclass his opponent but Burns chin will hold up and allow him to go the distance.

Totals:
Figueroa - 6
Burns - 1

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox