25.11.03 – By Don Deane: Saturday night on Showtime, boxing fans were once again treated to Houston’s 3 favorite sons. Two of them native, one of them adopted. Although all three looked good in their bouts against tougher competition, there was one standout performance.
Francisco “Panchito” Bojado came in to the ring sporting a shaved head and two arm band tattoos. He looked like a meaner, tougher fighter. Much different than the fresh faced, bleached hair boy we all came to love a few years ago. But that was not the only thing different about Bojado. He came in prepared to fight a distance fight. He was prepared to take his time; use defensive skills and counter punch the much slower Rubio. He came into the fight in shape and not sapped of strength because of weight loss. To make a long story short, Bojado was just properly trained.
Early on in the fight, it was very easy to notice his much improved defense. He did at times drop below his opponent’s waist while ducking, but that can be improved later. He fought a very intelligent fight, using the counter left hand and strong right cross to force Rubio into retreat for most of the fight. Rubio was not able to walk in and pressure Bojado like he could in their first fight. The fatigue just wasn’t there. Rubio had a very tough time landing the jab because of Bojado’s head movement and often looked confused or flat out defeated.
An increased body attack was also noted. Bojado increased the intensity of his body attack. He made every punch count and landed those punches with power. In about round 7 was when that body work took affect, and Rubio’s guard came down along with his punch output. The good body work was set up by Bojado keeping low and getting below Rubio’s punches. Bojado was able to turn his body and throw good, level punches at his opponent’s midsection. He was also able to land a stiff straight left from that low guard. The only issue there is that a right hander is required to square his body to throw a punch like that. Against better opposition he would leave himself off balance and open to counters.
So, now you might say “well what would have caused Bojado to change his look, be in better condition, and employ a better defensive scheme?” The answer is proper professional training. This is in no way a knock against his former management, but by employing Floyd Mayweather Sr., Panchito is in a position to learn so much more about the professional fight game. Mayweather is one of the premier defensive and boxing skills trainers in the pros. His ability to add his tools onto the fighter’s arsenal are rivaled only by Buddy McGirt. Mayweather has the ability, as displayed with Oscar De La Hoya, to refine a fighter instead of change him. Bojado is just as aggressive and tough as he was before, but is now better defensively and employs that defense to open up chances for his aggressive brand of offense. Much like McGirt did with Arturo Gatti. Gatti was able to use newly acquired movement and defense to help get him back to the world class stage he was at before. For Bojado, learning these great defensive skills turned the second Rubio fight into a completely different fight than the first. It really can’t be considered a sequel just because Rubio was in with a completely different fighter.
Lastly, Mayweather helped improve Bojado’s weight control, the staple of fight training. If Bojado had to shed all that weight the way he did in the first Rubio fight, those new skills probably wouldn’t have helped him out all that much. Bojado also has a nice hint of cockiness in him now as well. The hair, the tattoos, the black trunks with the colorful gray all combine to give him a tough fighter look. The taunt after the knockdown and the mix up after the bell contribute to his changed demeanor as well.
Franciso Bojado is obviously not the teenager he used to be, but he is far from turning into the next boxing bad boy. Under the tutelage of Floyd Mayweather Sr. boxing fans can look forward to a lot more improvement, bigger fights and all around attitude for young Panchito Bojado.