Newly crowned WBA featherweight champion Brandon Figueroa may have walked out of Liverpool’s M&S Bank Arena with the spotlight firmly on him, but boxing insiders knew exactly who else deserved the applause. Behind “The Heartbreaker’s” career-defining upset of Nick Ball stood Manny Robles, the soft-spoken strategist who once again proved why he thrives when the odds are stacked against his fighter.
Robles never chased the spotlight, yet time and again, when the boxing world was stunned by a seismic upset, his fingerprints were all over it. From heavyweight earthquakes to featherweight shocks, the veteran has quietly built a reputation as one of the sport’s most trusted architects of underdog victories.
When Manny Robles Orchestrated the Heavyweight Upset of the Century
June 1, 2019, was the day when Robles attained global attention. His fighter, Andy Ruiz Jr., a flabby-looking heavyweight, took on the face of British boxing, Anthony Joshua, a proven Olympian, and delivered the biggest upset in heavyweight boxing. Joshua was unbeaten and was supposed to take on Jarrell Miller, but the latter’s failed drug test paved the way for Ruiz’s ascension.
Joshua entered as a heavy favorite, listed at around 1/16 by some bookmakers, and was widely expected to roll through the late replacement. But Robles saw cracks in the Brit’s armor. He believed Ruiz had the tools to capitalize if given the right structure and belief.
After Ruiz’s narrow loss to Joseph Parker in 2016, Robles had taken him under his wing, rebuilding both his technique and his confidence. By the time the Joshua opportunity arrived, the trainer wasn’t hoping for an upset; he was preparing for one.
Robles had studied Joshua long enough to spot a recurring flaw. After firing his jab, the British star often let his lead hand drift low, a small lapse, but one that left a dangerous opening. To the veteran trainer, it was an invitation.
The plan was simple but brilliant. Ruiz would close the distance, refuse to be intimidated by the size disparity, and force exchanges on the inside where Joshua was less comfortable. Angles would be key, as would sustained work to the body to exhaust the bigger man’s energy reserves. And hovering over it all was one carefully sharpened weapon: the overhand right, a punch Robles believed could crack Joshua’s aura of invincibility.
Interestingly, it was Joshua’s U.S. debut, with his promoters eyeing a long American takeover. Ruiz and Robles, however, had other plans.
In the third round, Joshua appeared to follow the script, dropping Ruiz with a heavy shot that brought Madison Square Garden to its feet. But Ruiz refused to yield. Moments later, he detonated the very overhand right Robles had drilled throughout camp, sending Joshua to the canvas twice in the same round.
The shock rippled through the arena. By the R7, the momentum shifted. Ruiz swarmed the champion with fast, compact combinations, forcing the AJ backward and onto unsteady legs. When the referee waved it off, Ruiz had not only pulled off the upset, but he had also become the first heavyweight champion of Mexican descent, notching the IBF, WBA, and WBO titles all in one go. Where would Anthony Joshua go from here? Would there by a Ruiz-Joshua rematch?
This was certainly an emotional moment for Robles and his fighter. Robles’ journey began long before championship belts and global recognition. He arrived in the United States as a six-year-old immigrant from Mexico, his parents in pursuit of the promise of a better life. The transition was anything but easy. He didn’t speak English. School was intimidating. He felt like an outsider in a country that was supposed to become home.
Boxing, however, was always present. His father, Manuel Robles Sr., was a respected trainer, and the gym became both a sanctuary and a classroom. “Everything I learned came from my dad,” Robles has said in the past. “He was my mentor, my teacher, my best friend.” But financial instability and the sudden passing of his father in 2007 left him in a precarious position, though he never left boxing.
Balancing carpentry by day and coaching at night, Robles put in years of unseen work, supported every step of the way by his wife, Sandra, until Ruiz’s stunning win over Joshua brought long-overdue recognition to his quiet persistence.
A Featherweight Shockwave
Years later, in 2023, at Florida’s Charles F.Dodge City Center, Robles found himself in another supposed mismatch. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Robeisy Ramirez was widely expected to outclass Mexico’s Rafael Espinoza. Ramirez had the pedigree, experience, and the technical edge, while Espinoza had size and belief, and of course, the ace, Robles, in his corner.
Rather than suggesting the Mexican to fight cautiously against the decorated Cuban, Robles encouraged controlled aggression. Galvanized by an impassioned message from Robles in the corner, Espinoza rose to the occasion and picked up the pace.
The result? A relentless, high-paced fight that disrupted Ramirez’s rhythm and forced him into uncomfortable exchanges. Espinoza’s majority-decision victory shocked the boxing world and once again highlighted the mastermind behind the fighter and his ability to prepare his fighters for moments many thought were beyond them.
In hindsight, Espinoza still holds the WBO featherweight title and won the subsequent rematch, expanding his impeccable record to 28-0, 24 KOs.
Armando Resendiz vs. Caleb Plant: Grit Over Glamour
Even when the odds stretched wider to super middleweight, Robles didn’t flinch. 2025 presented Armando Resendiz with a massive challenge against former world champion Caleb Plant. Resendiz entered the fight as a 16-2 underdog for the WBA SM title. Against Plant’s slick movement and championship experience, Robles emphasized physical pressure and disciplined persistence.
Although the result did not rewrite history in dramatic fashion like Ruiz vs Joshua, the preparation reflected the trainer’s consistent philosophy: close the gap, impose discomfort, and give your fighter the belief that the impossible is within reach.
That belief translated into a career-defining performance on May 31 at Michelob Ultra Arena in Las Vegas. The Mexican outworked and outlasted Plant over 12 hard rounds, earning a split-decision victory to capture the interim WBA super middleweight title. Despite entering as a sizeable underdog, “Toro” dictated long stretches of the fight, applying steady pressure and refusing to be outmaneuvered.
The numbers told the story of his persistence. All in all, Resendiz connected on 186 of 600 punches, comfortably outlanding Plant, who managed 108 of 509. By the final bell, the upset was complete, and another Robles-trained fighter had defied expectations on a major stage.
The latest Brandon Figueroa Liverpool Chapter
When Brandon Figueroa traveled to Liverpool to face Nick Ball, the atmosphere was hostile and the narrative familiar. Ball was undefeated, fighting at home, and riding significant momentum. Many believed Figueroa’s first fight outside the United States would end in disappointment.
Robles, however, embraced the role of spoiler. Understanding Ball’s pressure-heavy style, Robles did his magic. He focused on maintaining Figueroa’s volume while sharpening his defensive awareness. The strategy was simple but demanding: outwork the aggressor, stay composed in the chaos, and break the hometown fighter’s rhythm.
The 29-year-old did just that. By the final bell, the crowd’s early roar had faded. Ball’s unbeaten record was gone, and Figueroa had captured the WBA featherweight title via a thudding 12-round KO. Behind the scenes, Robles had once again turned hostile territory into a proving ground.
What defines Manny Robles isn’t just tactical acumen; it’s psychological calibration. He prepares fighters not merely to compete, but to believe. In each of these bouts, the common thread was composure under chaos. His fighters never appeared overwhelmed by the moment. Robles studies opponents meticulously. He knows when the boxing world expects a coronation, and he knows how to disrupt it.
From Madison Square Garden to Liverpool, from heavyweights to featherweights, Manny Robles has repeatedly proven that the biggest stage often belongs to the best-prepared underdog. The month is February, and Robles already has a win in his bag and is off to a strong start as a “trainer of the year” contender.
Kishore R is a boxing journalist at NYFights with over three years of experience in sports journalism, having penned more than 2,500 articles. His love for the sweet science began when highlights of the 1989 Fight of the Year clash between Roberto Durán and Iran Barkley first caught his eye, an introduction that left him permanently hooked on the sport’s controlled violence.
While boxing remains his first love, Kishore is deeply passionate about MMA, which he has covered extensively during his time at The SportsRush and MMA Sucka. A devoted student of combat sports for nearly a decade and a half, he brings an advanced understanding of technical nuance and pairs it with a strong instinct for storytelling.
“Manos de Piedra,” Marvin Hagler, Manny Pacquiao, Joe Frazier, and Gennadiy Golovkin rank among his favorite fighters. Given the choice to travel to any era, he would gladly return to the 1980s, when “The Four Kings” defined boxing through technical brilliance and timeless rivalries.