Never mind that he lost to Cuban boxing sensation Guillermo Rigondeaux (16-0, 10 KO's) Saturday night, November 21 at the Mandalay Bay Hotel & Casino. Former world title challenger, Drian "Gintong Kamao" Francisco (28-4-1, 22 KO's) figured in an impressive showing, given the odds, and came out a better fighter.
Francisco showed that despite the odds, he could hang tough with one of the best fighters in the world, pound-for-pound.
Two judges had a shutout for Rigondeaux, scoring the fight 100-90 all in favor of the former two-time Olympic gold medallist, but one judge gave Francisco as much as three rounds with a 97-93 card. Obviously the general consensus is that Rigondeaux's style is simply not something that people would like to see boxing take a direction in.
"Well, it was all running," Francisco said, in an interview with Philboxing.
"I don't know any possibility that [Rigondeaux] can be beat. He doesn't want to fight, he just wants to touch you with his gloves a couple of times and then run. When you start throwing back, he's just not there anymore. How can you beat that?"
Francisco tried to show to some extent, flashes of his 'awkward' brilliance. The Filipino showed no fear in trying to engage Rigondeaux, by throwing off-balance punches from unorthodox angles. But a fighter of Rigondeaux's caliber, arguably leagues above and beyond a fighter like Francisco, was expected to trample over the Filipino with relative ease.
"In the very first round, I already felt his straight left. He's really fast and accurate," said Francsico
"That's why in the second round, it came to me that I needed to close the gap. I went into high guard and waited for him to initiate so I could counter, but every time I got close he would clinch."
Frustrated, Francisco continued to try to draw the Cuban into a firefight. He would throw raw, wild shots from the hip and oftentimes launch his signature overhand rights. There were moments when Francisco caught Rigondeaux.
"I had good success with the jab and I landed the straight right a few times and rocked him, but he would then duck under and clinch so I could never follow it up," said Francisco.
Despite the loss, Francisco was still impressive in the sense that he was able to go head-to-head with arguably the most talented fighter in boxing today. He also survived to the end to hear a decision, when most expected Rigondeaux to blast him out of the water.
"Even if I lost, I still think I did good. I'd like to thank all the people who believed in me, and for those people who prayed that I would win and that nothing would happen to me. Thank you to everyone," said Francisco.
"My manager talked to me and said I did good, I gave a good performance and that a lot of opportunities will open up for me."
"I took this risk despite having only a week to prepare, and that I had to travel from the Philippines to Los Angeles to Las Vegas within that week. It was a risk, but one that I had to take to fight Rigondeaux. If I had beaten him, it would have changed my career. But I'm happy with my performance," Francisco added.