DRIAN FRANCISCO DEFENDS WBA INTERIM TITLE IN THAILAND
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 01 May 2011
Drian Francisco defends his WBA super flyweight interim title for the first time as he waits for the WBA to compel 33 year old champion Hugo Cazares (34-6-2, 24 KO's) of Mexico to make a mandatory defense against the hard-hitting Filipino.
The 28 year old undefeated Francisco ( 20-0-1, 16 KO's) nicknamed "Golden Fist" defends his title against Thai challenger Tepparith Singwancha (15-2, 10KOs) at the Benjamatheputid School in Petchaburi, Thailand later Sunday.
At the weigh in on the eve of the fight both boxers tipped the scales at 115 pounds in the first try at the 13 Coins Hotel along Rama IX in downtown Bangkok.
Panama?s well-known and popular boxing writer and fight fan Carlos Costa reported that the WBA had named a panel of experienced, neutral officials for the bout.
Supervisor of this interim world title is Mr. Alan Kim of Youngsang-Ku, Korea who is Pan Asian Boxing Association Director General and WBA Committee member and is a regular figure in Thai boxing. The referee in charge of the action will be Rafael Ramos of Texas who was the third man in the ring for the Manny Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey fight at the Dallay Cowboys Stadium in 2009.
The three judges at ringside will be Raul Caiz Jr of California, Mr. Takeshi Shimakawa of Tokyo and Francisco Martinez of Auckland, New Zealand.
Costa reported that ?Most opinions around the boxing media gathered here in Bangkok foresee Francisco retaining his WBA interim crown and going forward with his crescendo boxing career.?
One of those boxing analysts with most favorable opinions of the Agoncillo champion is veteran Japanese boxing reporter Kazuto Harada who said during the weigh-in that "Singwancha is not yet in the level of Francisco. He is not as strong as the Filipino. The last three opponents of Francisco were all very top fighters and Francisco defeated them all by KO."
Should Francisco win as expected his youthful manager Elmer Anuran has big plans f or the young fighter who, early in his career saw action regularly on Viva Sports ?The Main Event? and was likened to two division world champion Luisito Espinosa because of his style.
However, since he moved away from h is former trainer and WBC/WBA flyweight champion Erbito Salavarria, Francisco?s style has changed often showboating during fights that have turned off pure boxing fans who enjoyed his old, technically sound fighting style.
Salavarria told Viva Sports in an interview on the eve of Francisco?s fight that he didn?t wish to comment on Francisco?s change in style but stressed ?he is very strong ad has lots of power.?
Francisco won the interim crown with a 10th round TKO over another Thai, Duangpetch Saengmorakot Kojietgym on November 30 last year when referee Steve smoger stopped the bout at 1:57 of the round after Francisco dropped Duangpetch twice in round six and once in round ten.
Earlier, Francisco scored a 5th round TKO over Ricardo Nunez on April 17, 2010 and prior to that hammered Roberto Vasquez into a 10th round stoppage to win the vacant WBO International title.
Top photo: Drian Franciso (L) and Tepparith Singwancha pose during yesterday's weighin. Photo by Carlos Costa.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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