Drian concedes defeat but vows return

MANILA, Philippines - Admitting he was overconfident, previously unbeaten Drian Francisco vowed to bounce back from a shock loss on points to Terrapith Singwancha in surrendering his WBA interim superflyweight crown in Phetchaburi, Thailand, last Sunday and said he won’t make the same mistake again.

 “My plan was to knock him out in five rounds,” said a dejected Francisco who arrived home yesterday. “I was surprised how tough he was. He kept coming forward.”

Francisco, 28, said he underestimated Terrapith. “I was overconfident,” he confessed. “I gave it my all. I knew he was groggy after I hit him with a series of right uppercuts. But just as I thought he was ready to drop, he came back firing.”

Francisco credited Terrapith for doing his homework. “He scouted me well,” said Francisco. “Whenever I took a step back with my defense down, he went after me. I learned a lot from the defeat. This will make me a better fighter.”

Terrapith, 23, floored Francisco with a left hook in the third round. He had just missed a right cross when Francisco leaned forward to throw a counter. Terrapith beat Francisco to the draw and landed a left hook flush on the jaw. Francisco took a mandatory eight-count but wasn’t hurt. He quickly got to his feet and finished the round on the attack. It was the first knockdown in Francisco’s career.

“I don’t consider it a knockdown,” said Francisco. “I wasn’t hurt. I didn’t black out. It didn’t feel like a knockdown. I was off-balanced and tripped on my feet. That’s why I went down. But I showed I wasn’t hurt.”

Francisco said he tried hard to take the final few rounds and couldn’t believe that Japanese judge Takeshi Shimakawa, a late substitute for Venciclav Nikolov of Bulgaria, scored the last four for Tepparith. Shimakawa saw it 117-111 while the other judges Francisco Martinez of New Zealand and Raul Caiz Jr. of Los Angeles had it 114-113, also for the Thai. The STAR scored it 114-113 for Tepparith.

“It was a close fight,” said Francisco’s manager Elmer Anuran. “I think the Japanese score was totally unacceptable. Even the officials of the Thai Boxing Commission were surprised by the six-point margin. I thought Drian was a little tentative in the early rounds. It was probably because he was conserving his strength. The night before, Drian couldn’t sleep because there were fireworks and lots of noise near the hotel. Drian got to sleep at midnight. But that’s no excuse.”

Anuran said the loss might be a blessing in disguise. “Maybe, with the loss, (WBA superflyweight champion Hugo) Cazares won’t be afraid to defend his title against Drian,” said Anuran. “Manny (Pacquiao) also lost in Thailand once and it was by knockout. Look where Manny is now. We’ll study our options. If we don’t get the shot at Cazares, Drian might move up to bantamweight or even superbantamweight. He walks around weighing 135 pounds so it’s possible he has outgrown the superflyweight division. There is the option of a rematch against Terrapith.”

Francisco’s awkward and unconventional style didn’t seem to throw off Terrapith. Twice, he walked away from the Thai and while moving, threw a left straight without looking. It worked once but the second time, Terrapith was ready with a counter. In the seventh, Francisco stood his ground and traded bombs in the middle of the ring. At least twice, he snapped Terrapith’s head back with fierce right uppercuts. But the Thai stayed strong. At the end of the eighth, Francisco was slightly ahead on points. Then, Terrapith poured it on down the stretch, showing he had more gas left in his tank.