SINGAPORE -- Former world title contender Drian "Gintong Kamao" Francisco (28-3-1, 22 KO's) returns to the ring Friday, November 13, against Danilo Pena (27-22-4, 11 KO's) in a 10-round featherweight bout at the Philippine Navy Gymnasium in Taguig, Metro Manila.
There was a time when Francisco, 32, was considered one of the most promising young talents in Philippine boxing.
His awkward style and powerful hands were enough to beat most international competition and while he started late in the sport, the potential was there to achieve great things.
Francisco holds notable victories over the previously unbeaten Ricardo Nunez and fellow Filipino countryman Michael "Bruce Lee" Domingo of the famed ALA stable in a rare Filipino-versus-Filipino matchup of high calibre fighters.
He first came onto the scene in 2009 with a 10th round stoppage of Panamanian veteran Roberto Vasquez.
Since then, Francisco built a reputation of being a rangey, intelligent yet very awkward fighter whose style was difficult to decipher. As a result, opponents had trouble dealing with Francisco which often resulted in a victory for the Filipino nicknamed 'The Golden Fist.'
In Francisco's first fight in the continental US, he met Chris Avalos in one of ESPN's Friday Night Fights cards. Francisco dropped a unanimous decision to Avalos in Las Vegas but bounced back with win over Manuel de los Reyes Herrera in Los Angeles.
At the time, he was being trained and managed by Justin Fortune but the team found difficulty in finding willing opponents in Francisco's weight class. Eventually, Francisco moved back to the Philippines in search of fights and is now being handled by Manny Pacquiao himself.
Francisco's opponent tonight, Pena, is coming off a 12 round unanimous decision loss to Thong Sithluangphophun in Thailand. He has a paltry 27 wins and 22 losses on his pro record.
Just recently, Francisco met Jason Canoy in May and was knocked out in the very first round after going down three times. This fight against Pena continues his comeback of sorts.
If Francisco is successful tonight, his next move would be to find a bigger and better fight to re-enter the spotlight.
Francisco last fought in a September bout against Jilo Merlin in General Santos. Francisco won by first round knockout.