DRIAN FRANCISCO BACK TRAINING AT THE FORTUNE GYM
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 20 Aug 2013
Former WBA super flyweight Interim champion Drian Francisco is back in training at the gym of former heavyweight contender and one time Manny Pacquiao strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune, following his ten round unanimous decision loss to fancied Chris Avalos of San Diego in a super bantamweight fight at the Texas Station Casino in Las Vegas on a Top Rank presentation of ESPN?s Friday Night Fights.
Fortune told the Manila Standard that Top Rank is ?still interested? in getting Francisco a fight and that he would meet with matchmaker Brad Goodman on Friday.
Fortune said Francisco would go down to bantamweight and has been training in his Los Angeles Gym and would in fact begin sparring on Wednesday, Manila Time.
The trainer said he had Francisco checked by a leading entomologist when he found out the fighter couldn?t breathe after the fourth round and appeared to have an asthma attack.
He said the specialist discovered that Francisco ?couldn?t breathe from one side of his nose and he had an allergy caused by loads of cigarette smoke in the warm up area next to the casino."
Fortune claimed the doctor told him Francisco ?was lucky to make it after four rounds because his diaphragm was really tight but because he was really fit he made it to the end of the ten round fight.?
The trainer said ?people will say we are making excuses but I?m not that way.?
The Francisco-Avalos fight was marked by several vicious exchanges but Francisco faded in the late rounds and paid the price.
With the win Avalos improved to 22-2 with 16 knockouts and captured the North American Boxing Organization super bantamweight title while Francisco dropped to 24-2-1 with 19 knockouts.
All three judges had Avalos the winner by margins of 96-94 with two judges scoring it for the American 97-93.
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