Omar Figueroa Jr. is a professional boxer from the United States who previously held the WBC lightweight title in 2014. He was born on December 13, 1989. Figueroa competed in over 40 amateur bouts, the majority of which took place in Texas and Mexico. However, he swiftly transitioned to the professional ranks, saying that he “did not care for” the amateur ranks.
In a fight that was shown on Showtime on January 6, 2012, an upset victory by technical knockout was scored by Figueroa over an unbeaten Puerto Rican-American prospect named Michael Pérez. In 2012, Figueroa would go on to win a total of six fights, one of which is his debut for Golden Boy Promotions, which was a second-round knockout of Mexico’s Ramon Ayala. Figueroa would go on to win.
Omar Figueroa Jr. Opens Up On His Mental Health Issues
Last week, Omar Figueroa Jr. was chatting informally with a reporter about his several diagnoses related to his mental health. Figueroa is one of the most exciting fighters in boxing, and on this day he was discussing his mental health difficulties in advance of a super lightweight match that was scheduled to take place on Showtime in Hollywood, Florida. The bout was scheduled to take place against Adrien Broner.
It was determined that Figueroa suffered from bipolar disorder, ADHD, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. “This is something that 90 percent of people go through, but everyone seems to think it’s just them when they’re having problems,” Figueroa said. “Everyone seems to think it’s just them when they’re having problems.”
Figueroa had no way of knowing at the time how prophetic his statements would turn out to be, and he couldn’t have known. Broner announced his withdrawal from the fight against Figueroa via social media on Monday, citing concerns about his mental health illness as the reason for his decision. Showtime made the announcement a few hours later that Sergey Lipinets would be taking Broner’s place in the main event on Saturday.
Since his early days, Broner has maintained a reputation for odd and frequently bizarre behavior. During the course of this training camp, he conducted interviews while seated in his bed. But on Monday, he finally reached out for assistance, claiming that he couldn’t fight in the state of mind that he’s currently in.
On Instagram, Broner wrote:
In a tweet dated August 20th, the author said, “Man I’m going thru a lot right now in my life, but I ain’t go give up. I set some more goals, and I ain’t stopping until I finish what I started, but sorry to say this, but I’m not fighting.” Broner deserves praise for going public with what is, for some, a very tough topic to discuss, since too many individuals choose to disregard their mental health rather than get help for it.
Figueroa has been where Broner is, so he has a firm grasp on what he is going through. He believes his father, Omar Figueroa Sr., suffers from ADHD as well and has urged him to get treatment. While watching the gymnastics competition in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, he made up his mind to get some aid for himself.
Figueroa said to Yahoo Sports, “Watching the Olympics is something I grew up doing.” There was a lot of excitement about it here. The Olympics were on in our house nonstop. I also witnessed Simone Biles’s decision to skip the Olympics, despite the fact that she was a major draw and perhaps the most scrutinized athlete on the field. She had the intestinal fortitude to make the choice that was best for her own sanity.
As the saying goes, “That started me thinking. I’m not trying to knock gymnasts here, but unlike us, they never have to worry about getting stuck in the noggin. Why am I not doing that? I asked myself. When I think of how much longer I have been struggling, I wonder, “Why don’t I have the fortitude to seek the treatment like she did?” As a result, I was able to go forward.
At first, he looked up YouTube videos regarding mental health, and those ultimately led him to make an appointment with a doctor. According to Figueroa, “knowing [you have a mental health condition] is truly half the battle.” After receiving my diagnosis, I sought out professional counseling, and the experience “absolved” me of a great deal. As a kid, I came from a dysfunctional family. I blamed myself for a number of things that didn’t turn out the way I’d hoped.
That’s a lot of suffering I went through. My father was very rigid, and he didn’t like my ADHD and all of its eccentricities. He’s wonderful, but he’s stuck in a rut of Mexican machismo that makes him think he always needs to put on a harsh front. He, too, has endured hardship, and there is a cultural expectation in Mexico regarding the behavior of a “true guy.” He and I both took a hit from that.
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