Drian bows to Thai challenger

MANILA, Philippines - Previously unbeaten Filipino WBA interim super-flyweight champion Drian Francisco dropped a unanimous decision to Thai challenger Tepparioth Singwancha in Petchaburi, Thailand yesterday, blowing what could have been a career-making world title showdown with Hugo Cazares of Mexico.

Singwancha, refusing to make himself Francisco’s stepping stone to a possible shot at Cazares, knocked down the taller Filipino in the third and managed to get the better of the exchanges to win the closely fought contest.

The Thai fighter got 114-113 scores from two of the judges and a 117-111 verdict from the third, which rued the Francisco camp, spoke of a “hometown” decision.

“It was a really close fight but the fact that the judges did not score the last rounds for Francisco is questionable,” Francisco’s manager Elmer Anuran was quoted in the website of TV coveror Solar Sports.

After getting dropped in the third, Francisco regained his bearing in the rounds that followed and fought back.

He was still ahead in two judges’ scorecards at the end of the eighth, according to the Solar report. However, the judges scored the ninth, 10th and 11th rounds for the Thai (16-2, 10 KOs), who went on to wrest the crown and put a blow on Francisco’s erstwhile clean slate (20-1-1, 16 KOs).

Francisco, who was making the first defense of the title he won over Thai Duangpetch Kokietgym last November, tried to use his height and reach advantage by fighting from the outside. The thing was, he did it too far a distance to effectively land his punches. 

He also failed to take advantage of the fact that Singwancha always came charging straight, opting to fight from a distance instead of mixing it up with the Thai.

Likewise, Singwancha came prepared for Francisco’s style, as evident in the early rounds when he ducked under instead of backed off when Franciso attacks, making the Filipino miss his left hooks.