CROWNE PLAZA HOTEL – Earlier today the weigh in for Boxing at the Bay 4: Unbreakable took place at the Ruby Ballroom at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Mandaluyong City, Philippines.  Coming off a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of Carlos Tamara last January, Viloria looks to begin his climb back to the top and into title contention against tough Mexican, Omar Soto.  Viloria had no problem making the Flyweight limit as did Soto.  The fighters will square off this Saturday at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City for 12 rounds of Boxing.

Also schedule to fight is up and coming Lightweight, Al Sabaupan of Touch Gloves Boxing Gym in Agoncillo, Batangas (the same stable as Drian “Gintong Kamao” Francisco).  He will be taking on Wonchit Twins Gym of Thailand.  Sabaupan is the reigning IBF Pan Pacific Lightweight champion, a title he won at the last Boxing at the Bay.  During the weigh in, Sabaupan tipped the scales at a trim 133.5 while his opponent came in over the limit and needed a couple of hours to try and shed the excess pounds.  In the end, Wonchit Twins Gym logged in at a solid 140 lbs., we have received word that the fight is still on although it will be a Non-Title fight.

Special thanks to the Solar Sports team for accommodating OfficialScoreCard.com!

Also in attendance was former world champion, “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona and our very good friend Elmer Anuran, manager of Drian “Gintong Kamao” Francisco who says he has big plans for Francisco, and could be getting him on the Pacquiao-Mayweather undercard should the super fight push through this November.

The OfficialScoreCard team is now live at the Press Conference for Saturday’s fight card dubbed “Boxing at the Bay 4: Unbreakable, Viloria Vs Soto”.  Check back here for updates and interviews!

This is the scene at the Press Conference.  As you can see to the left is former Middleweight champion of the world, Frankie Liles, current trainer Ruben Gomez and to the right is Brian Viloria.

Brian Viloria and Omar Soto pose for the media here.  Brian looks ripped and ready while Soto looks a tad bigger from this angle.  Viloria will square off with Soto this Saturday at the Flyweight limit of 112 lbs.  Viloria looks to get back on track after losing the Light Flyweight title he lifted off Ulises Solis to unknown Carlos Tamara of Colombia just last January.

PHILIPPINES – This Saturday, we find ourselves back in Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City Philippines for the fourth installment of Solar Sports’ “Boxing at the Bay” series which is growing ever so popular.  This time Brian Viloria’s comeback fight is featured as he goes up against Omar Soto of Mexico.

Viloria, coming off a loss in his last fight against Colombia’s Carlos Tamara, is looking to regain his championship form this time campaigning in the Flyweight division, a good 4 pounds above his previous weight class.  Viloria has acknowledged that he did have a disappointing performance last January in front of his Filipino fans but is now eager to get back on top.

Much controversy has surrounded Viloria’s camp in the last couple of weeks, most significantly the departure of his head trainer Robert Garcia, who also trains Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire.  Since then however Ruben Salazar has picked up the spot and also brought in former Middleweight Champion of the World Frankie Liles.  All seems to be well in training camp but let’s wait and see what it all translates to on fight night.

Viloria has cited the weight class change to be the difference in this third attempt at a world title run, he has said that it has made him stronger as a fighter being that he didn’t have to work hard to burn off those last few pounds.  He also believes that he has carried his speed and power into the new division.  Which will be important because he faces a very durable fighter in Omar Soto.  Soto doesn’t necessarily boast an impressive win-loss record having had 6 defeats with one foot already inside “journeyman” category but he should be able to give Brian Viloria all that he can handle for this one.  Though Soto does not bring a whole lot to the table on paper, you can be sure that he will bring his Mexican warrior heart once he steps inside the ring.

Viloria hopes to bring his ‘A’ game for another spectacular performance, the likes of which when he knocked out Ulises Solis just last year.  With a victory, Viloria will look to campaign further as a Flyweight in a division that is not necessarily stacked with star power.  Among the top ten Flyweights today, his star could be the one to shine the most.

Tune in to OfficialScoreCard.com as we bring you all the news and action around this fight card, from the Presscon to the Weigh-In and to Saturday night, when Brian Viloria makes his way back into the spotlight.  Much thanks to Solar Sports for once again accomodating the OfficialScoreCard team!

@Silly, the fight card will be this Saturday July 10th at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, near Kapitolyo.  Fight card starts at 5:30PM and is produced by Solar Sports. Be there early and you can catch the fighters hanging around the entrance!

Let’s just say theoretically Bob Arum and Michael Koncz are right on this one, just this once, that the supposed megafight between P4P king Manny Pacquiao and surefire runner up Floyd Mayweather will indeed take place in November.  What can we expect out of the fight itself?  Boxing experts are split right down the middle as to who will win this highly anticipated matchup, and with much reason.  On paper, Mayweather-Pacquiao is a toss up.  Both sides also have extreme cult followings, where in the eyes of maniacal fans, their favorite fighter can do no wrong – “nuthugger-ism” being the operative word.

Floyd Mayweather has made a living off of pot shotting his opponents and picking his spots really carefully, landing only solid and accurate blows, enough to earn him points victories.  He has mastered ‘the art of the unanimous decision victory’ so to speak.  Most think it is a boring style, and to the casual boxing fan, it really is sleep inducing what with the lack of action the style brings – a style that hinges on counter punching and capitalizing on opponents mistakes not necessarily to do damage, but to score points (hence Mayweather’s low KO rate).  One thing we cannot question however is its effectiveness.  If Mayweather is to be favored in a fight against Pacquiao, there is no doubt it is by decision.  To think otherwise (that Mayweather could claim Pacquiao’s head via KO) would put you in the “Nuthugger” category.

On the flipside of things, Pacquiao has made a name for himself physically manhandling his opponents inside the ring.  He has shot into stardom, knockout after devastating knockout.  His style – highly fan friendly, he swings for the fences and he swings a lot.  More often than not, he challenges fighters who are physically a lot bigger than he is, making him sort of the underdog (sort of because everyone knows though he is smaller, he is almost always the stronger and faster fighter).  Opposite of Mayweather, Pacquiao throws punches to hurt his foe, to knock him down and eventually knock him out.  If anything at all, Pacquiao will have to win, should he fight Mayweather, by knocking him out.

This is where it gets tricky.  Barring the Pacquiao KO victory, we are left with a decision based on what the judges will see throughout the duration of the fight.  DECISION.  Certainly this makes Floyd Mayweather the favorite right?  It would appear so.  Does this mean that if the fight goes to the judge’s score cards, that it’s automatically a victory for Mayweather because Pacquiao wasn’t able to knock him out?  Let’s elaborate a little bit.

I believe that Mayweather, known for his pinpoint accuracy (and you can pretty much expect him to be accurate), will have to be scored on how aggressive he is against a guy that is so wide open and vulnerable.  It’s no secret that Pacquiao is no defensive dynamo, the guy leaves his hands down most of the fight and is open to counter punching, the likes of which Mayweather’s equally fast hands can most definitely deliver.  In my opinion, Mayweather should be scored on how much he capitalizes on that.  If he sees Pacquiao’s head open for a punch that he can throw, he has to throw it and land it.  He can’t wussy out of it and not throw.  Simply put, Mayweather will have to be scored in this fight on his willingness to NOT take it to a decision, he has to show the judges that he is capable of laying the hurt on Pacquiao, this is a contact sport after all.  If by the end of the fight, Pacquiao isn’t bruised and cut and bloodied, I don’t think the judges should give it to Mayweather.  I don’t think he would deserve it, not in a fight of this magnitude, with this much at stake.

On the other hand, in order for Pacquiao to win a decision, the formula is laid out and clear.  He will have to be the busier fighter (as he almost always is), that lands the more telling blows.  Now landing a solid shot on Mayweather is indeed a tall order, but with Freddie Roach in his corner, I’m sure Pacquiao will find a way.  How often he does will be the deciding factor.  If Pacquiao can land enough power shots on Mayweather that do visible damage (keyword being visible) to a fighter they once called “The Pretty Boy”, I think by the end of the fight, if it’s close and comes down to the wire, that Pacquiao could win by decision.  It would have to be via split or razor thin unanimous, and though it’s next to impossible because he’d be up against Mayweather, it’s still a possibility with a small glimmer of hope.

Of course this is Boxing.  And throughout the course of history, we have fallen in love with our upsets.  Though I would consider a Mayweather victory by KO an upset, I do also think a Pacquiao victory by decision equally upsetting.  Given Mayweather’s undefeated record and defensive style, I would like to think that Mayweather would be the betting favorite to win by Unanimous Decision with Pacquiao coming in as a close underdog to win by knockout.

Start saving your cash.  We stand to make a lot of money betting on this one.  It’s definitely a toss up folks!

All of a sudden, you can’t say Floyd Maywather just runs inside the ring.  All of a sudden, you can’t say Floyd Mayweather never fought elite competition.  What happened last night was a beauty to behold.  It was the ‘sweet science’ depicted in its purest and finest form.  It was the definition of ‘boxing’ – to hit and not get hit.  Floyd Mayweather is a very easy guy to hate.  He goes around and runs his mouth to the point where it’s just infuriating to continue to listen to him and his unending trash talking.  A lot of people hate Floyd Mayweather.  After last night, you can still hate him all you want, but if you don’t respect him and his unparalleled mastery of the sport then you are not a true ‘boxing fan’.

Floyd took an elite fighter in Shane Mosley and totally nullified him.  Let’s not forget, this is the same Shane Mosley that completely destroyed Antonio Margarito just about a year ago.  This version of Shane was being touted as an elite version of him until Floyd downright made him look like a tired old man last night.  Coming into the fight, many people were giving Shane a chance to hand Mayweather his first loss.  He certainly had the tools to accomplish the task.  He had the hand speed, the power and the boxing ability to hurt Mayweather – and in the 2^nd round he actually had Mayweather in trouble.

To which Mayweather replied in the post-fight interview with Larry Merchant, “It comes with the territory.  It’s a contact sport and you’re gonna get hit.  When that happens, you suck it up and continue fighting like a warrior.”

A reply that was as short as it was sweet, and definitely true.  Mayweather was hurt in that second round and Mosley knew it, and tried to capitalize.  Being the great ring general that he is, Mayweather adjusted from the 3^rd round onwards and the rest of the fight was lopsided.

“I felt tight after I hurt him in the 2^nd round, I thought to myself, I’m gonna knock this guy out.  I tried to get him out of there.  He [Mayweather] adjusted and I didn’t and that’s why he won the fight” said Mosley.

Mayweather showed why he is considered to be one of the greatest defensive technicians in the history of the sport.  He was nearly impossible to hit.  Also surprisingly, from the 6^th round onwards he was actually the aggressor.  He wasn’t dancing in the ring like in his usual fights, he was coming forward trying to bring the fight to Mosley.  It wasn’t like a Pacquiao throwing bunches of punches at his target, or a Tyson bull rushing to the middle trying to land bombs – it was a calculated, well thought out assault.  It wasn’t overwhelmingly relentless.  It was deadly accurate.  It was Floyd Mayweather-ish.

“I tried to do what the fans wanted me to do.  They didn’t want to see me move in there so I stood in front of him [Mosley].  I tried to give the fans what they wanted” said Mayweather.

But let’s be fair here.  Whenever Pacquiao wins, they always try to discredit it, downplaying his opponent.  In Mayweather’s case, some of that is warranted.  Let’s not forget that Shane Mosley is 38 years old and NOT in his prime.  I believe a young Shane Mosley could have thrown more punches like Nazim Richardson was asking an old Shane Mosley to do.  That would have changed the fight dramatically.  We also cannot overlook the fact that Mosley hasn’t fought in over a year and could have over-trained a little bit (he had been training to fight Berto in January until Berto pulled out).  So yeah, in a sense it wasn’t a challenge that was all that it could be despite what HBO’s 24/7 series had you believe, but like Mayweather is a genius inside the ring, he is a genius outside of it.  He couldn’t have picked a better time to fight Mosley as Mosley is winding down on a very long and hard career.

Props to Floyd as I admit he is the most talented and gifted fighter of his era.  He’s still a cherry picker though!

Still, you have to give credit where credit is due.  And you can’t deny the fact that Mayweather’s defensive skills are off the charts.  If we learned anything, it’s that the only guy who can challenge Mayweather now is Pacquiao.  Pacquiao’s activity and equally blinding speed provides a whole different dynamic altogether.  Pacquiao has the same tools that Mosley has and then some.  Which is why it was sickening to hear Mayweather basically lay down a ‘no drug test – no fight’ verdict on his fight with Pacquiao during the post-fight interview.  I’m still one of the believers that the fight will happen though.  It’s the only logical fight now for both fighters.  It’s our job as writers, as those who deliver insight in this amazing sport – it is our job as boxing fans to make noise and clamor for Mayweather-Pacquiao to take place.  If we are loud enough, if we voice out our opinions we should be able to turn the tides on Mayweather and hopefully he’ll fold and give in to public demand.

I guarantee you that what you saw in the 2^nd round with Mosley staggering Mayweather, you’ll see all night with Pacquiao.  Except Pacquiao will do what Mosley couldn’t, which is finish Mayweather off.

Does this win for Mayweather change the mythical pound for pound rankings?  Though some are quick to pull the trigger, I say absolutely not.  Pacquiao is still number one until someone takes him down from there or he retires.

Last night’s fight set the backdrop, now it’s time to set the stage.

Mayweather once again proves that his ultimate defense is impenetrable.  Now it’s time to see that ultimate defense go up against Pacquiao’s ultimate offense…

Which is unstoppable.

Credit photos to Ethan Miller/Getty Images

In the world of Boxing, there is one self proclaimed king of the box office and king of the fight game, Floyd Mayweather Jr.  Self proclaimed to the point that it’s utterly irritating to watch (and listen) as he continues to run his comments unedited about his greatness in and out of the ring.  Yet his skills are what ultimately got him to this position, and it’s his unparalleled skills that back him up.  So the search continues to find the one man who could dethrone the ‘Pretty Boy’ from Grand Rapids.  Manny Pacquiao perhaps?  Maybe, it definitely seems like the obvious choice, but that fight is on hold for now until Mayweather can get past Shane Mosley this Saturday.

Shane Mosley is easily the best Welterweight not named Manny Pacquiao.  Though he hasn’t fought in over a year, his last performance was a brilliant beatdown of formerly avoided Antonio Margarito, who tried to load his gloves with plaster heading into his fight with ‘Sugar’.  To no avail, Margarito stepped inside the ring with Mosley and got the beating of his life.  Shane won via a referee stoppage TKO in the ninth.  After the fight, Margarito got his boxing license revoked and was suspended.  Mosley’s shocking win shook up the division.  Surprisingly, Mosley has never fought since then.

Much has been said about the use of Perforamance enhancement drugs.  The Mayweather clan has been spewing allegations left and right against anyone and everyone dawning a pair of boxing gloves, more prominently Pacquiao who has slapped a lawsuit on them for defaming his name.  But Mayweather has drug problems of his own.  It is well documented that Mayweather has very brittle hands and injects a drug known as Xylocaine in his hands before fights to numb them – a drug that is illegal in all states but one, the state of Nevada.  Though Mosley has been battling drug problems of his own, a legal tussle earlier in the decade regarding his use of steroids, he has been cleared of this and maintains that it was not to his knowledge what was going through his body at the time (surprisingly the same excuse Margarito used to clear his name).

And so the stage is set for what could potentially be the fight of the year.  Mayweather’s style is so slick, so technically impressive that it is such a beauty to watch.  But his style is only ‘exciting’ if he’s up against a guy who comes forward and brings it.  Shane Mosely is that guy.  Mosley brings with him the accumulated years of frustration in wanting to fight ‘Money May’.  I can guarantee you that the kind of punches Shane will be throwing Saturday night, will be the kind that will want to hurt his opponent.  If and when they land on Mayweather (which is oh so difficult to do), they will do some damage.  The question here is, will it be enough?  Only time will tell.

Saturday night, both fighter’s gloves will be loaded not with steroids, not with plaster and not with Xylocaine (ok, maybe Xylocaine), but with the pride to get the chance to represent the United States of America in a battle with the Philippines.  If Mosley can land a big one on Mayweather, that will change the fight.  If he can knock Mayweather down, even better.  But let’s let the logical guess get the best of our bets this time around, easy ‘money’.  I favor Floyd Mayweather Jr. by 12 round Unanimous Decision.

You have to believe that the winner of this fight will take on Manny Pacquiao next – and that fight, will be for all the marbles.  Let the fight for the mythical Pound-for-Pound title begin.

By Defyance Cinco

Ynares Sports Arena, Pasig City – Just a few hours ago, I went with some friends to watch Drian “Gintong Kamao” Francisco live against a fighter from Panama named Ricardo “El Matimatico” Nunez for a chance to earn a WBA world super flyweight title shot.  We went, as expectant as any ‘casual boxing’ fan that the undercards were going to be stinkers and the main card would be exciting, but with the remote doubt in the back of our minds on whether or not Francisco could pull off a convincing victory.  After all, we’ve had our hearts broken one too many times before, recently by Marvin Sonsona, Ana Julaton and Brian Viloria.  Little did we expect that by the end of the night, the only thing we’d be discussing over beer bottles and ‘pulutan’ was the sheer excitement of the third installment of “Boxing at the Bay”, subsequently the best that Solar Sports has put out so far.

The fight card was littered with local talent that, to the non hardcore fan, was a list of strangers.  None of the names on the card came with back story, no one knew who was fighting who or why, but it didn’t matter.  The fireworks produced last night made it seem like a night in December, in the hot summer nights of April.

Notable fighters included the hard hitting, undefeated fighter of the Sonsona bloodline, Lolito Sonsona who destroyed his opponent via referee stoppage TKO.  Sonsona kept true to the family name of quickness and power, even having older brother Eden Sonsona, who has already fought on US PPV in his corner wearing a Tim Duncan Spurs jersey.

We also got to witness the tough and rugged Lightweight Alfred Sabaupan dismantle his Indonesian foe Heri Andriyanto also via knockout, dropping the visitor with a perfect right hook to the jaw.  Drian Francisco’s brother, Lloyd, also displayed the distinctive Francisco style of awkwardness mixed with technical mastery – Lloyd was deadly accurate and though he did run into a stray uppercut that sent him reeling, he had the heart and skill to recover well and win unanimously.  The co-main event also did not disappoint, featuring a full length, action-packed 12 rounds between rising local Filipino pugs Rey “Stingray” Las Pinas and Nino Magboo.  Magboo won a hard fought UD to become the new WBO Asia Pacific Super Bantamweight Champion.

But the star of the night was definitely the man of the hour.  Coming into the fight, the much higher ranked Ricardo Nunez of Panama was expected to really test Drian Francisco, to see if he would be ready for the world stage.  A known knockout puncher, Nunez stepped into the ring with the supreme confidence from his supporters and his team, but little did they know what they had gotten themselves into.  “Gintong Kamao” completely destroyed Nunez by the opening bell, dropping the Panamanian twice in the first round – and once again with a vicious overhand left in the fifth giving Francisco the TKO victory.  The ‘KO’ was reminiscent of when Manny Pacquiao completely knocked Ricky Hatton out cold last year.  It was that devastating!  As expected, Francisco’s awkward style and unpredictability proved to be a riddle Nunez would not be able to crack.  They say the punches you don’t see coming are the ones that will knock you out, well, Francisco throws these types of punches a dozen times per round.  And in each round, we would witness Nunez constantly rocked and staggered and ready to go – until the merciful fifth round when it all ended with a huge left by Drian.

Francisco was so impressive, that his handlers think he is ready to face the winner of the Nobuo Nashiro – Hugo Cazares fight.  Some even opining that he could hold his own against Super Flyweight Super Champion Vic Darchinyan and newly ranked #5 on Ring Magazine’s mythical pound-for-pound list, fellow Filipino Nonito Donaire.  While I do believe Francisco would make quick and easy work of both Nashiro and Cazares, I do also believe he will have a tough time beating Darchinyan even though I give Francisco a good chance of beating him.  I do not however, think he is quite on the level of Nonito Donaire just yet, for one of the Philippine’s brightest rising young stars, Francisco has a long way to go before he can even theoretically challenge Donaire.

But he is on the right track, and with a few more world challenges under his belt we could be looking at another fighter that could really put the Philippines on the map.  Francisco has the style, the attitude and the flair to shine in one the most unforgiving sports.

Philippine boxing fans flocked to the Ynares Sports Arena hoping to see an action packed fight.

What they saw was a new boxing hero being born.

Welcome to the limelight, Drian Francisco.  What you do here, is more important than what you do in the shadows.

OfficialScoreCard would like to thank Solar Sports for not only accommodating us once again, but for also helping the sport of boxing in the Philippines skyrocket with its “Boxing at the Bay” series.  We look forward to the next fight card.

Note: Elmer Anuran won the $1000 dollar bet against Panama boxing fan Carlos Costa, a bet they made during the pre-fight press conference.

Photos owned and copyrighted by Jan Marcel Narciso for OfficialScoreCard.com.

The Officialscorecard team of Carlos Cinco, Hanz Lustre and Archie Narciso were able to catch up with the fighters (Drian Francisco, Ricardo Nunez and interpreter Carlos Costa, and Francisco’s manager Elmer Anuran) in tomorrow night’s fight card dubbed “Boxing at the Bay 3: Young Guns – Francisco vs Nunez”.  Here are the interviews:

Francisco 115 lbs.  -  Nunez 115 lbs.

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas – Officialscorecard members Carlos Cinco, Hanz Lustre and Archie Narciso were on hand earlier today at the weigh in for the third installment of the increasingly popular “Boxing at the Bay” presented by Solar Sports.  A few days ago at the official press conference, both teams had very bold predictions heading into the fight with Team Francisco declaring a knockout victory near midway of the fight and Team Nunez putting money on the line for a victory for Panama.  Both fighters seemed very well prepared for their battle as they had no problems with the weight, and barring any unforeseen circumstances they should both be able to provide an action packed fight this Saturday night.

This is a very important fight for Drian Francisco and for the Philippines as the winner here gets a world title shot against the winner of the Nobuo Nashiro-Hugo Cazares fight.  Both fighters are revved up and ready to rumble this Saturday.  Francisco in particular looks to be in high spirits and is very confident that his speed will overcome Nunez’s hard hitting reputation.  Nunez is perceived to be a puncher, but against the stylish Francisco he faces a very intelligent fighter that poses a hard style to beat.  I give Nunez (who is actually ranked higher than Francisco) about 3-4 rounds before he figures out that Francisco is a riddle he can’t crack.  By the middle of the fight, Francisco will have broken down his opponent’s body and his spirit and will get him out of there early.  At this point I just think that Francisco is ready for the world stage.  The Philippines just simply cannot afford another setback, after Brian Viloria lost to Carlos Tamara last January.  I go with Drian Francisco via 7^th round TKO.

“I think the advantage I have over him (Nunez) is my speed, we may be equal in power, but my speed will be the key to this fight.” said Francisco when asked about his advantages over Nunez.

Indeed it is speed that kills, we’ve all seen what speed does to even the most difficult of opponents.  Styles make fights and given Francisco’s unpredictability and finesse, I expect that style to overcome Nunez’s hard punching.

With Philippine world champions recently losing their belts (Marvin Sonsona, Brian Viloria, Gerry Penalosa), it is up to “Gintong Kamao” to carry the burden.

Tomorrow night, Francisco has the chance to raise the Philippine flag once again.

Other fights and weights:

4 Rounds – Light Flyweights
Benezer Alolod 107 lbs, Giovanni Escaner 109 lbs

4 Rounds – Minimumweights
Michael Borja 104 lbs, Wilmar Fragata 105 lbs

8 Rounds – Light Flyweights
Lolito Sonsona* 109 lbs, Remuel Obidos 107 lbs

10 Rounds – Featherweights
Lloyd Francisco** 127 lbs, Leonardo Doronio 126.5 lbs

12 Rounds – WBO Asia-Pacific Super Bantamweight Championship
Nino Magboo 121 lbs, Rey Las Pinas 121 lbs

12 Rounds – IBF Pan Pacific Lightweight Championship
Al Sabaupan 135 lbs, Heri Andriyanto (Indonesia) 134 lbs

*Lolito Sonsona is Eden Sonsona’s brother and Marvin Sonsona’s cousin

**Lloyd Francisco is Drian Francisco’s brother

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Ortigas Center, Ortigas, Philippines – Officialscorecard was on hand at the Crowne Plaza Hotel for the press conference for “Boxing at the Bay: Young Guns” presented by Solar Sports.  The fight card features unbeaten fight prospect Drian “Gintong Kamao” Francisco as he takes on Panamanian challenger, Ricardo “El Matimatico” Nunez.  The bout is a WBA Super Flyweight Title Eliminator with the winner earning the right to challenge Japan’s Nobuo Nashiro for the championship.

Present from Team Francisco was his manager Elmer Anuran and Drian Francisco himself, across the table was Team Nunez consisting of long time visitor and huge Panamanian boxing supporter Carlos Costa (who also served as interpreter), trainer Francisco Arroyo (who once trained Celestino Caballero) and Ricardo Nunez.

Both fighters seemed very well prepared, in particular Francisco, who according to his manager Anuran, has been training for the past 3 months for this fight and is ready to go the distance.  When asked what their fight prediction was, Francisco humbly stated that they were ready to go the full twelve rounds should the fight draw out the distance but would look for the knockout midway through the fight in and around the 6^th round if it presents itself.  In contrast, the Panamanian team gave a much stronger prediction of the fight.

“Last time I was here with El Torrito (Rafael Concepcion), not many people gave him a chance to win the fight (against AJ Banal), but I came here to win and that’s what we did.  Now I’m back and I’m here to win.  We will win by knockout.” said trainer Francisco Arroyo.

“I don’t usually bet on fights and when I do, I don’t bet a lot, not unless I am one hundred percent sure that the fighter I bet on will win.  I am sure Ricardo Nunez will win.  I will bet $1000 dollars on him.” said Carlos Costa as he jokingly made a bet with Elmer Anuran on who will win.

Nunez has 17 victories, 15 by way of knockout with only 1 defeat.  He is ranked #2 by the WBA and #1 by the WBC and seems to be a worthy challenger.  Given his opponent’s high ranking however, Francisco is not fazed and remains confident that his speed will trump whatever Nunez brings to the table.

“We saw some tape of one of his (Nunez) fights back in 2007, I can say that though he may have changed since then, he may have gotten stronger and faster, his style may have changed but the fighter’s attitude always remains the same.  And Drian has studied his opponent very well and is well prepared to fight on Saturday night.”  said Elmer Anuran.

The Philippines and Panama have a storied past, with Panama coming out on top in the early years of the rivalry.  Dodie Boy Penalosa lost to Hilario Zapata in a WBA World Flyweight Title fight back in 1986.  Recently, AJ Banal lost to Rafael Concepcion in Cebu, and was later avenged by “The Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire at Pinoy Power 2 in Las Vegas, NV.  This time, Francisco has the chance to score another notch in the win column for Filipinos.  Much thanks to Solar Sports for accommodating us.  Stay tuned this Friday for the weigh in, covered by OfficialScoreCard.com!

Photos owned and copyrighted by Jan Marcel Narciso for OfficialScoreCard.com.