DRIAN FRANCISCO AND HIS ?TBA OPPONENT?
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 02 Nov 2012
Los Angeles, CA:- One of the strange things about boxing is the so-called ?TBA? ? To Be Announced ? opponent.
It is apparently one way for a boxer who does not have too many connections and or has a handler who is a newbie in the business, to get a fight. Any fight for that matter.
In many cases, as what I have seen in big Vegas promotions, the TBA is not identified until the day of the weigh-in when the TBA boxer actually steps on the scales.
Fighting against a ?TBA? opponent is a two bladed sword situation.
On one hand, a boxer may land against a TBA that was hurriedly selected and not fully trained and conditioned. In such case, the boxer may end up having an almost assured victory.
On the other hand, he may be matched against someone whose record the promoters are trying to fatten up and the non-TBA will simply get blown away by the TBA.
Case in point: Drian Francisco
Francisco has been promised a fight on the undercard of the Brian Viloria vs Hernan Tyson Marquez flyweight unification fight on November 17th at the Sports Arena in downtown Los Angeles.
Francisco has been training for several weeks with the help of former heavyweight contender, Justine Fortune at the Fortune Gym in West Hollywood. Fortune, in the early days was the conditioning coach of Manny Pacquiao.
Francisco and Fortune often times drive to different gyms around the city to be able to match up with different fighters as they train for the big night on the 17th.
This is because as of this writing, they do not know who they are fighting against.
The promoter of the fight, Mexico?s Fernando Beltran of the Zanier Promotions has not announced Francisco?s opponent. It?s a TBA.
Such lack of information from Beltran and his Zanfer Promotions is not only a poor business practice given that the fight is in 16 days.
It is also grossly unfair to Francisco who could not formulate a game plan as he and his trainer do not know who to prepare against.
So in the meantime, Francisco continues to spar against different boxers so that he will be exposed to different fighting styles. Hopefully he will be able to apply such training experiences on the day of the fight against a TBA opponent
For Francisco that is not the most ideal situation. But at this very early stage of his career in the US, there is nothing much he can do. It?s either fight a TBA or stay at home and wither. He can only wish that his handlers are here with him to help remedy the situation.
As it is, he is left alone to train and also to navigate his way around the requirements for a fight.
In the meantime, Francisco is calling the few friends he has cultivated in his short stay in LA for help. He is asking them to use their contacts and find out as soon as possible who his opponent will be so he and Fortune can formulate a game plan.
Another surprising thing is Zanfer to this date has not given Francisco the contact number of the CSAC approved doctors who can do his medical exams. So, his friends are scrambling to find a doctor for him.
Is it perhaps because Zanfer does not like to pay for the medical exams?
In addition, is Zanfer perhaps setting him up as a canon fodder for one of their boys?
I surely hope not.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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