Joshua Franco
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Joshua Franco (born October 27, 1995) is an American former
professional boxer Professional boxing, or prizefighting, is regulated, sanctioned boxing. Professional boxing bouts are fought for a purse that is divided between the boxers as determined by contract. Most professional fights are supervised by a regulatory auth ...
who held the
World Boxing Association The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is an international professional boxing organization based in Panama. The WBA awards its world championship title at the professional level. Founded ...
(WBA)
super flyweight Super flyweight, also referred to as junior bantamweight, is a weight class in professional boxing, contested from and up to . History The first title match in this division was in 1980, when the World Boxing Council responded to pressure from A ...
title between 2020 and 2023.


Professional career


Early career

Franco made his professional debut on August 6, 2015, scoring a four-round
split decision A split decision (SD) is a winning criterion in boxing, most commonly in full-contact combat sports, in which two of the three judges score one particular competitor as the winner, while the third judge scores for the other competitor. A split de ...
(SD) victory over Temoatzin Landeros at the Belasco Theater in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. He amassed a 14–1 record during the next three years, with six of those victories coming by way of stoppage. Franco was scheduled to challenge
Oscar Negrete Oscar Manuel Negrete Padilla (born 18 July 1987) is a Colombian born American boxer. He current NABF Bantamweight champion since June 30, 2017. At his amateur career best result was a gold medal at light-flyweight at the 2010 South American Gam ...
for the WBC- NABF
bantamweight Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports and weightlifting. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In mixed martial arts, MMA, bantamweight is . The name for the class ...
title on October 4, 2018, at The Hangar in
Costa Mesa, California Costa Mesa (; Spanish language, Spanish for "coastal tableland") is a city in Orange County, California, United States. Since its incorporation in 1953, the city has grown from a semi-rural farming community of 16,840 to an urban area including ...
. The bout was set as the main event of an
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and
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broadcast card. The fight, in which both men threw over 1000 punches, was ruled a split draw. Each fighter received a 96–94 scorecard from one of the judges, while the third judge scored the fight a 95–95 draw. An immediate rematch between the pair was set, with the WBC-NABF and vacant WBA International bantamweight titles on the line. The rematch was scheduled for April 25, 2019, as the co-main event of a junior welterweight bout between Yves Ulysse Jr. and Steve Claggett, and was broadcast by
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. Franco won the fight by split decision, with one score of 98–92 for Negrete and 96–94 and 97–93 for Franco. Franco made the first defense of his two secondary title against Oscar Negrete on August 10, 2019. The trilogy bout was scheduled as the co-main event of a welterweight fight between Vergil Ortiz Jr. and
Antonio Orozco Antonio Orozco (born 23 November 1972 in Barcelona) is a Spanish singer-songwriter. He has won several prizes like the Premio Ondas and sold many records; his first album sold more than 100,000 copies, whereas his second album titled ''Semilla d ...
. Franco and Negrete once again fought to a split decision draw, with scores of 96–94, 95–95 and 93–96, the same as in their first meeting. Franco was scheduled to face Jose Alejandro Burgos in a non-title bout on January 11, 2020, on a
DAZN DAZN (; pronounced "da zone") is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top sports Sports broadcasting, streaming and entertainment platform. Founded in 2007 as Perform Group via the merger of Premium TV Limited and Inform Group, it is o ...
broadcast card. Franco moved back down to super flyweight from bantamweight for this bout. He won the fight by a ninth-round technical knockout.


WBA super flyweight champion


The Moloney trilogy

After compiling a record of 16–1–2 (8 KOs) he challenged WBA (Regular) super flyweight champion,
Andrew Moloney Andrew Moloney (born 10 January 1991) is an Australian professional boxer who held the WBA (Regular) super-flyweight title in 2020, having previously held the interim title since 2019. At regional level he held the WBA Oceania bantamweight ...
, on June 23, 2020, at the MGM Grand in
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. After a competitive back-and-forth fight in which Franco scored a knockdown in the eleventh round, he defeated Moloney via twelve-round
unanimous decision A unanimous decision (UD) is a winning criterion in several full-contact combat sports, such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, mixed martial arts and other sports involving striking and submission in which all three judges agree on which fighte ...
(UD) to capture the WBA (Regular) title. Two judges scored the bout 114–113 while the third scored it 115–112, with the eleventh-round knockdown being the deciding factor in Franco's victory; had he not scored the knockdown, Moloney would have retained his title through a
majority draw A majority draw is an outcome in several full-contact combat sports, including boxing, mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporatin ...
. According to
CompuBox CompuBox is a computerized punch-tracking system widely used in professional boxing to provide statistical analysis of matches. Established in 1985, it has become an integral tool for broadcasters and analysts, offering viewers quantitative data o ...
stats, Franco landed 231 out of 789 (29.3%) punches thrown while Moloney landed 191 out of 663 (28.8%). The pair agreed to fight an immediate rematch on November 14, 2020, at the MGM Grand Conference Center in
Paradise, Nevada Paradise is an Unincorporated towns in Nevada, unincorporated town and census-designated place (CDP) in Clark County, Nevada, United States, adjacent to the city of Las Vegas. It was formed on December 8, 1950. Its population was 191,238 at the ...
, on the undercard of the
Terence Crawford Terence Allan Crawford (born September 28, 1987) is an American professional boxer. He has held multiple quadruple champion#Boxing, world championships in four weight classes, from lightweight to light middleweight, including the undisputed cha ...
and
Kell Brook Ezekiel "Kell" Brook (born 3 May 1986) is a British former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2022. He held the International Boxing Federation (IBF) welterweight title from 2014 to 2017, and challenged once for a unified middleweigh ...
welterweight title bout. Referee Russell Mora declared the fight a no contest, after the ringside doctor stopped the fight at the beginning of the third round due to a swelling around Franco's right eye, which resulted from a headbutt according to the referee. Moloney's corner disputed this, which led to a 20 minute instant replay review by the NSAC who confirmed Mora's decision. Due to the controversial nature of their second meeting, a trilogy bout was scheduled for August 14, 2021, which took place at the
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in
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. The title fight was set as the main event of an
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broadcast card, with most odds-makers having Moloney as the favorite at -240. Franco retained the title by unanimous decision, with all three judges awarding him a 116–112 scorecard. He outlanded Moloney 168 to 107 in total punches, and 127 to 73 in power punches landed.


Promotion to undisputed champion

On February 9, 2022, the WBA ordered the WBA "Super" champion
Juan Francisco Estrada Juan Francisco Estrada Romero (born April 14, 1990) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC super flyweight title between 2022 and 2024 and ''The Ring'' super flyweight title between 2019 and 20 ...
to defend his title against Franco. The pair were given until March 11 to come to terms. As the pair failed to do so, a purse bid was scheduled for April 18, 2022, which was later postponed by 24 hours. The promotional rights were won by
Golden Boy Promotions Golden Boy Promotions, Inc. is an American boxing promotional firm based in Los Angeles, California. The company was established in 2002 by eight-time world champion (in six divisions) Oscar De La Hoya, borrowing his nickname "Golden Boy." Hist ...
, who bid $120,000, with a 75/25 split in favor of Estrada. Although the bout was officially expected to take place on July 16, 2022, it was eventually postponed to August 20. On July 18, Estrada's trainer Alfredo Caballero stated in an interview with Izquierdazo that Estrada would vacate the WBA title in order to pursue a trilogy match with Román González. On August 11, 2022, Estrada officially relinquished the super flyweight "Super" title. Immediately afterwards, Franco was promoted to undisputed status and remained the sanctioning body's sole titleholder at junior bantamweight.


Franco vs. Ioka duology

On October 11, 2022, it was revealed that Franco has entered into negotiations for a title unification fight with the reigning
WBO The World Boxing Organization (WBO) is an organization which sanctions professional boxing bouts. It is recognized by the International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF) as one of the four major world championship groups, alongside the World Boxin ...
super flyweight champion Kazuto Ioka. It was confirmed a month later that the title bout would take place on
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at the
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in Tokyo, Japan. On November 4, the WBO furthermore ordered the winner of the fight to face the sanctioning body's former
flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing up to and including 51 kg (112 lb) for a title fight. Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of boxin ...
champion
Junto Nakatani is a Japanese professional boxer. He has held world championships in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight title from 2020 to 2022, the WBO junior-bantamweight title in 2023. He is currently the unifie ...
in a mandatory title defense no later than 180 days afterwards. The fight ended in a majority decision draw. One judge scored it 115–113 for Franco, while the remaining two judges scored it as a 114–114 draw. Due to the inconclusive nature of their first meeting, both Franco and Ioka agreed to an immediate rematch. As Ioka was ordered to make a mandatory title defense against
Junto Nakatani is a Japanese professional boxer. He has held world championships in three weight classes, including the World Boxing Organization (WBO) flyweight title from 2020 to 2022, the WBO junior-bantamweight title in 2023. He is currently the unifie ...
directly after facing Franco, he instead opted to vacate the title, meaning the rematch would only have the WBA super flyweight title on the line. The championship bout was booked to take place on June 24, 2023, at the
Ota City General Gymnasium Ota City General Gymnasium is an arena in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and exte ...
in
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. Franco was stripped of the WBA title at the official weigh-ins, as he came in nearly two full divisions above the super flyweight limit. He lost the fight by unanimous decision, with two scorecards of 116–112 and one scorecard of 115–113.


Professional boxing record


See also

* List of world super-flyweight boxing champions *
List of Mexican boxing world champions A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, Joshua Living people 1995 births American male boxers Boxers from San Antonio Super-flyweight boxers Bantamweight boxers World Boxing Association champions World super-flyweight boxing champions 21st-century American sportsmen